Gotham's Heroes
by Spaxaph
Summary: Every city has its heroes.  One's a seasoned cop, one can see ghosts, and one can even see the future. But none of them could predict what was about to happen... Can these three women join together to save, not only NYC, but everyone's favorite CSIs too?
1. Holiday

**Gotham's Heroes is a collective story from SparkyCSI, Aphina and Axellia (please read the author bio for further information). **

**Whilst we own our OC's, even when we combine our savings, we are not even close to owning a percentage of CSI: NY - so don't sue us!**

**Gotham's Heroes**

**1. Holiday.**

_Corrine Reid walked into the bank, a couple steps ahead of her friends, who were staring at the sights around them. She giggled a little at Taylor and Carmen's exclamations of wonder at the culture that surrounded them._

_She waited patiently in line to exchange her money for Euros, while Carmen Devine and Taylor Turner caught up. She snickered a bit as they finally stood in line next to her._

"_Took y'all long enough," she laughed._

_Taylor looked at her, rolling her eyes. "Whatever. Like you aren't impressed with the architecture."_

_Carmen laughed, "It's not the architecture that I was looking at!"_

_Cory laughed along with Taylor. "I have my own Italian, so I don't need to look at others." Cory moved up in the line as looked at the teller, praying that she spoke English. "I'd like to exchange my money, please," she asked._

_The teller nodded to her as Cory handed over her money. Just as she had done that, chaos erupted as masked men stormed the building. The next thing she knew, Carmen was lying on the floor, next to her, in a pool of blood._

_Taylor screamed and sunk down beside her friend. "Carmen?" she whispered as she felt for a pulse. She looked at Cory in shock. "Oh my God. She's dead._

Cory awoke to a hand on her shoulder and Carmen begging her to wake up in an urgent voice.

"Cory, Cory." Carmen shook her companion's arm again irritably; the water from the glass Taylor had knocked over still dripping from her clothes.

"For Christ's Sake Cory!" With a final shake, Cory's eyes jolted open and she jumped up as if gasping for air.

"We have a situation." Carmen announced rising to her feet as Cory took in the mass of white tablets littering the floor. And water stain down Carmen's clothes. She glanced at the empty seat beside her.

"Where's Taylor?" she frowned struggling to sit upright.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you! She bought the wrong tablets! She bought ones that lasted for four hours instead of eight, and woke up whilst we're midway over the Atlantic." Carmen pointed at the gleaming ocean for empathize.

"I tried to calm her down with more sleeping tablets but she knocked them on the floor, and them the stewardess came over and asked if there was a problem because she was disturbing the other passengers, and she told her of course there was a freaking problem, the plane is over twenty thousand feet in the air and could crash at any moment." Carmen paused for breath, as Cory stared at her open mouthed.

"I knew she was scared of flying…" Cory said shaking her head.

"She's now proceeded to knock the drinks trolley over and lock herself in the bathroom to which the stewardess is still attempting to remove her." Carmen recounted. Cory climbed to her feet and turned seeing the stewardess banging on the bathroom door.

"So you want me to help get her out." It was more of a statement than a question. Carmen held up two sleeping tablets at eye level between her fingers.

"I want you to pin her down while I jam these down her throat." Carmen growled frustrated. Cory stifled a chuckle before moving to the bathroom door and taking control of the situation from the harassed looking stewardess.

Over the next half an hour through Cory's gentle negotiations, they had between them managed to remove Taylor from the bathroom and doped her up on the left over sleeping pills with slight manhandling on Carmen's part. At the end of all the chaos with Taylor now sleeping peacefully, Carmen and Cory kinked their beers together in a toast.

**~G~H~**

Taylor stepped out of the taxi and finally let out a breath of relief. It wasn't until she was out of the airport and away from the planes that she felt that she could finally relax.

'This place is beautiful,' Carmen sighed, shutting the door behind her and making her way to Taylor's side.

'You're telling me,' Cory agreed, pulling her shades down over her eyes to survey the hotel in front of them, the sunlight reflecting of its white walls.

An hour later and three women were checked in and unpacking in their rooms. Carmen was calmly arranging her toiletries in the bathroom. She glanced up and caught herself smiling. The holiday had been Cory's idea. With everything the three women had been going through, she had decided that they needed a break. Although, Carmen mused, if she had known how much of a pain Taylor was going to be on a plane, she would have suggested staying in one of the other forty nine states the US had to offer.

Whilst Carmen knew Cory through the crime lab – they had worked together a while back on a case where the FBI had become involved – Carmen wasn't completely familiar with Taylor. She's bumped into the woman a few times in the lab itself, but as she was a journalist, she wasn't completely sure why she was there. According to Cory, Taylor had been seeing Flack, but that had ended not too long before the holiday.

Carmen caught herself smiling again. She couldn't help it – Flack seemed to have that effect on her. The smile left Carmen's face to be replaced by a frown. If Taylor and Flack had only just split up, she really shouldn't be having those thoughts. With a sigh, she reached for a bobble and wrapped her long auburn hair up into a messy bun. Then there came a frantic knock at the door.

Both confused and alarmed, Carmen dashed to the room of the door and peeked through the peep-hole. It was Taylor, biting her lip and looking somewhat impatient. Just as the journalist raised her hand to knock again, Carmen pulled the door open. "What's the emergency?"

"I have no money," Taylor all but wailed.

Carmen's mouth dropped open. "You had your money stolen already? But Cory and I were with you the whole time."

Across the hall from Carmen's room, the door opened and Cory appeared confusion and concern etching her features. "What's the matter?"

"Taylor's had her money stolen," Carmen explained before Taylor had the chance.

"We should call hotel security," Cory started, walking over to Taylor.

Taylor held her hands up to stop the two women. "My money has not been stolen."

Carmen and Cory looked at each other and frowned. "So what happened to it?"

Taylor looked sheepishly at the plush red carpet. "I kinda never had it to start with."

"Taylor, did you not get your money changed before we came out here?" Carmen asked in surprise.

"I had more important things to worry about," Taylor told them.

"Like what?' Cory asked in disbelief, wondering how someone could possibly forget something as important as foreign currency.

"Like the fact I was about to embark on an eight and a half hour flight!" Taylor told them somewhat indignantly. "Besides, I figured the country would take American Express."

"Um, Taylor," Carmen said gently. "It does."

"But the vending machine doesn't! And I'm dying for a _Bueno_ bar," Taylor frowned. "Not that I know what a _Bueno Bar_ is, but it looks tasty."

Cory shot a sideways stare at Carmen. "How, exactly, did you try to sedate her on that plane?"

**~G~H~**

Thanks to Taylor's insistence at getting her own money rather than borrow some from the other two women, Cory had to go to the reception desk and ask where the closet Bureau de Change was. With the response being the _Banca Nazionale del Lavoro_ was only a short walk away; the three women had quickly changed out of their traveling clothes and into something a little more comfortable.

"I guess it's true what they say about Italian men," Taylor sighed as one particularly fine specimen walked past and grinned at her.

"I didn't need to leave America to tell you that," Cory smiled.

"Well, we weren't all blessed with a Danny," Taylor sighed. "Although, that being said, I think I would strangle him if I dated him for too long. And if he doesn't stop calling me Drew," she frowned, "maybe I actually will strangle him."

Cory just shook her head softly, a smile creeping over her face as the wind played with her curly auburn hair.

It wasn't until Cory walked into the bank that she realized something felt wrong. Only she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.

**~G~H~**

**AN: This is a collective effort – our first! So please be really nice and let us know what you think. There are three very anxious writers waiting on your input here!**


	2. Deja Vu

**Gotham's Heroes is a collective story from SparkyCSI, Aphina and Axellia (please read the author bio for further information). **

**Whilst we own our OC's, even when we combine our savings, we are not even close to owning a percentage of CSI: NY - so don't sue us!**

**Gotham's Heroes**

**2. Déjà vu **

Cory looked around the bank, the sense of unease traveling up her spine. Carmen noticed the immediate change in demeanor and decided to ask her what was wrong. "Cory? You okay?"

Cory shook her head. "I'm not sure. My FBI spidey sense is tingling. I don't know why."

None of the women noticed the bank manager walk by them at that moment or the flash of concern that moved across his face as he looked towards the double doors. Neither did they see his hand reaching to his pocket and take out a small parcel and drop it into Cory's bag.

Turning around, surveying the bank's interior, Cory continued, "It's like a sense of déjà vu. I feel like I've been here before."

Taylor looked at Cory, knowing the hell she had just been through with Ortiz. "Girl, you're just jumpy after the whole Ortiz thing. This is why you suggested the vacation in the first place. It's just—for lack of a better expression—battle fatigue. My dad was like that whenever he came home from a mission."

Cory just shook her head, unable to get the unease out of her gut. She turned again and looked out the banks front doors. Seeing the masked men about to enter, she quickly grabbed Carmen and Taylor and pulled them to the side, behind a kiosk.

"What the hell are you doing, Cory?" Carmen exclaimed.

Cory just motioned for silence as the men entered the bank and began to yell in Italian.

Carmen and Taylor looked around the kiosk carefully and noticed the bank robbery in progress. Carmen looked back at Cory in surprise. "How did you know?" she whispered.

Cory just shrugged her shoulders and motioned them both for silence. _What I wouldn't give for my gun right now._

Carmen's thinking mirrored Cory's at that point, the longing for the familiar piece of metal was palatable.

Unlike the others, Taylor's daytime job meant that she wasn't accustomed to using guns, so instead she just crouched behind the two cops, hoping that their hiding place was not discovered.

Carmen's senses were on high alert and she noticed a man, slowly and carefully making his way towards them from behind a desk. Eyes wide with fear, she motioned for him to stay where he was, but he ignored her. He had almost made it to them when his good luck ran out. Just as he had crawled towards the kiosk, one of the masked men saw him and began to yell in loud Italian again.

The two cops shared the same thought, _I wish I spoke Italian._ The masked man grabbed the man and dragged him to his feet, in the process seeing the three women hiding. He pointed his gun at the women and began to yell at them in Italian.

Cory just looked at him. "I'm sorry, I don't speak Italian."

The masked man laughed and switched to English. "What do we have here, three American _turisti_? My lucky day. Stand up and walk over here," he said, pointing to where he wanted them to stand with his gun.

Cory studied the gun. It looked like a 9mm Glock 19. With that in mind, she tried to study the other weapons discreetly. They all looked like they were military issued, but the men holding them didn't look very familiar with them. She tucked away that bit of information for later.

The masked man, who had discovered them, approached her and began to lightly stroke her cheek. "If I had known that American women were so beautiful, I would have traveled over there long ago."

"Get your hands off of me, you slime ball," Cory growled. The man ignored her, so she quickly slapped him.

The man laughed as he holstered his weapon and wrapped his arms around her, trapping her. Luckily, Cory had managed to turn around. She slightly nodded to Carmen, who caught the look in her eyes.

Carmen saw that Cory was planning something, so she decided to try to distract the other men. She did the only think she could think of; she lifted up her top, causing a momentary distraction.

Once they were looking at her, Cory made her move yelling, "Taylor, get down!" Once Taylor was out of the line of fire, Cory elbowed the man in the gut. Reaching behind her, she grabbed the gun, then proceeded to throw the man over her shoulder. She managed to pull off his mask during the move and was shocked to find out that he couldn't be older than twenty.

Once he was down, she pointed the gun at him and looked at the other men. "Drop your weapons!"

They ignored her and began to shoot.

Carmen leapt at the masked man to her left, grabbing at his wrists and forcing the gun upwards at the ceiling. A sudden boom echoed through the stillness of the bank as the gun went off, causing panic to radiate through the air, as a scream followed. She pressed her body up against the bank robber's fighting for leverage as he forced his weight down upon her.

The two remaining bank robbers trained their guns on the two fighters but were unable to shoot as the struggle continued. With the robber's weight was bearing down on her, the muscles in Carmen's shoulders were beginning to protest. Knowing she couldn't last much longer, she drove her knee into the masked man's stomach driving the air out of him, and wrenched the gun from his hands. Before he even had a chance to recover the weapon was pressed to his head.

"I won't hesitate to blow his brains out." She yelled into the room, panting with exhaustion.

Taylor peered out from her hiding place as one of the bank robbers raised his weapon at Carmen's back. Without thinking she leapt at him, driving all of her weight into the man. As they hit the floor the gun went off suddenly and a scream of pain erupted through the room, cut off quickly by the rush of sirens.

Taylor's eyes rose to meet a puzzled Carmen who was still standing, gun still trained unwavering on the would-be thief in front of her. She twisted her head further and spotted the source of the noise.

The bank manager was slipping onto the floor as blood poured out of his chest.

Seeing both Cory and Carmen a little preoccupied with the men they were aiming their guns at, Taylor scrambled over to the bank manager. She turned him over, swearing as she caught sight of the blood that was pumping from the wound. As she placed her hands over the wounds in an attempt to stem the flow, the strangest sensation came over her. And then she realized she was staring at the ghost of the manager.

"You have to stop it," he told her, his voice strangely calm considering the commotion occurring around them, and the fact he had just died.

"We have stopped it," Taylor told him. "So just get back in your body. Help will be here soon."

"Stop it," the ghost repeated as he faded away.

"Taylor? Are you alright?" Cory shouted over at her friend seeing that she had frozen, staring into the space in front of her.

"_Mettere le pistole giù!"_

Taylor didn't have time to reply as the Italian equivalent of SWAT burst through the doors.

"_Cadere le vostre armi!"_ Carmen's head twisted to Cory's her eyes wide. This was an absolute nightmare.

Cory nodded signaling for Carmen to put down the weapon. Carmen stepped back from her captive and bent down dropping the weapons to the ground. She looked up as Cory went to do the same.

"_Mettere le vostre mani sulla vostra testa!"_ Carmen raised her hands as the member of SWAT screamed in her face.

"I don't understand Italian," she said as softly as she could manage.

"He's telling you to put your hands on your head." Taylor called to her. Carmen dropped to her knees doing as she was told, as did Cory.

"Tell him we're police, we were helping!" Taylor shot off a phrase in Italian as the SWAT team moved to handcuff not only the suspects but Cory and Carmen as well. The SWAT man ignored Taylor and cuffed the two girls as well, gesturing for Taylor to come along he took them all into custody.

After a vigorous two hours in the Italian police station between Taylor arguing in Italian and Carmen and Cory's protesting in English, the girls were cleared and returned to the hotel to hopefully finish the rest of their holiday in peace.

**~G~H~**

**AN:**

_Madison Bellows – This is Sparky. You don't have to be in England to write a story with us! I'm in Texas! I'll admit that the time change makes it a little difficult (6 hour difference) but thank God for IM and email! I hope you enjoyed your vacation!_

_Swede85 – Aphina here! Glad to see you found it interesting, we all put a lot of hard work into this; it's kind of like our joint child or at least a pet project. I'd love to hear any more thought you have on it._

_Meadow567 – This is Sparky and Aphina answering back for Axellia because she is overloaded with work. From Sparky-As far as I know (since I'm her beta) Tay and Flack are in it for the long haul in WTECS. Unless her crazy muse decides to really change things up, that is!_


	3. Welcome Home

**Gotham's Heroes is a collective story from SparkyCSI, Aphina and Axellia (please read the author bio for further information). **

**Whilst we own our OC's, even when we combine our savings, we are not even close to owning a percentage of CSI: NY - so don't sue us!**

**Gotham's Heroes**

**Chapter 3. Welcome Home**

Carmen sat back into the uncomfortable orange chairs and let out a deep sigh. The three of them were sitting in JFK airport awaiting their luggage, and she was certain the other two women were feeling like she was: grateful to be back in America.

The rest of their holiday had felt like they were back at work; well, for Carmen and Cory anyway, as they had been in and out of the police station giving statements. They hadn't done nearly as much sightseeing as they wanted to. And although some of them had managed to catch a tan, for the most part they looked over-worked and felt like they hadn't been away at all.

Carmen glanced at Cory. She was on the phone with someone telling them that they had actually gotten off the plane, but they were still waiting for their luggage to appear. Though from her tone of voice, Carmen suspected it may have been Danny. On her other side, Taylor was playing with her hair as she stared into space. Admittedly, she was probably still doped up on the sleeping tablets she had been eating like candy before they boarded the plane, but Carmen was still a little worried.

Whereas she and Cory weren't exactly strangers to gunfights, Taylor was, for all intents and purposes, still a civilian and been quiet the whole holiday. Taylor looked up, sensing she was being watched, and Carmen gave her a reassuring smile.

Carmen glanced down at her watch. "Girls, we have been sitting here for half an hour and the rest of the plane has been and got their luggage."

Taylor mimicked Carmen, staring at her watch. "You're right," she agreed. "This is stupid." She jerked her head indicating that the two women should follow and marched off in the direction of the baggage claim desk.

Cory perked her head up to see Carmen hurrying after Taylor and rose to her feet, quickly telling Danny she would call in back, and thrust her phone into her bag and chased after the other two.

Taylor slapped her passport onto the counter, startling the youth who was flicking through his comic book. "Our luggage hasn't come through."

"Sometimes it takes a while for them to be unloaded from the plane," the guy told her before he returned his attention to the comic book.

"The rest of the plane has been and gone through customs," Taylor told him.

"I'm sure it will be out in a minute," he told her without even looking up from the comic.

"Look," Taylor snapped, ripping the comic from his hand, "I have just had the worst vacation, ever, and all I want to do is sink into my own bed and sleep off the sleeping tablets that are still kicking around in my system. I don't want to be here. So I would appreciate it if you would look on that little computer of yours and tell me where my bags are."

"Don't mind her," Cory apologized shooting Taylor a look. "She's just grumpy because she hates flying."

"But we would appreciate it if you could tell us where our luggage is," Carmen added, flashing him a bright smile.

The man took the passports off the three women, making sure to glare at Taylor as he grabbed hers, and ran the numbers of the stickers on the passports through the computer.

"They're in Reykjavik," he told them finally.

"Reykjavik?" Taylor exploded in disbelief. "We had a direct flight from Rome. How the hell did they end up in Iceland?"

**~G~H~**

Cory walked through the arrivals door a while later and her mood picked up immediately when she saw Danny waiting for her, waving a little American flag at her.

"Welcome home, bella," he muttered as he pulled her into an embrace.

Cory sighed as Danny wrapped his arms around her. She heard his murmured welcome home and smiled.

"It's really good to be home." She pulled back to stare into his depthless blue eyes. "Why do I feel more tired now, than I did when I left?"

"I'm sorry, _bella._ What exactly happened? All I know is that I got this panicked call from Lydia saying that the Italian police were trying to verify who you were."

Cory sighed. "Got caught in the middle of a bank robbery. Carmen and I managed to overpower two of the robbers right before the cops showed up. Taylor took out another one, but the bank manager got shot and died. Since we were holding the guns when the cops showed up, we were arrested, too."

Danny looked at her in sadness. "How long did they hold you?"

"Two hours. Top that all off with having to go back and forth to the station to give statements and the stupid airport sending our luggage to frikkin' Iceland! Arg! I just want to go home and forget about the last week."

Danny laughed softly. "That I can manage, _bella_. You'll feel much better after a long hot bath."

Cory smiled, a sense of peace coming over her. "Thanks, _chere._ You always know what I need." Cory grinned at a sudden thought. "By the way, you have to teach me Italian now. I never want to not be able to understand what I'm being asked again."

Danny chuckled. "Definitely. Let's get you home."

Together, they climbed into Danny's SUV and began the long drive back to Cory's apartment.

**~G~H~**

Meanwhile both Carmen and Taylor were seated in Flack's car speeding through the city.

"Taylor…." Carmen turned in her seat and tapped Taylor's arm gently. Taylor jolted startled turning her head to Carmen. "We're at your place." Carmen said gently, studying the other girl who had been quiet and had spent the whole trip staring distantly out of the car window. "Do you want me to come up with you?" Carmen asked worrisomely. Taylor shook her head and gave both Flack and Carmen a weary smile.

"I'll be fine, I'm just tired and I need to get these sleeping tablets out of my system." She opened the car door and grabbed her handbag. "I'll call you tomorrow." She said before stepping out and closing the car door behind her.

Both Flack and Carmen watched Taylor walk to the door and go inside before Flack drove off. "She's been quiet all the way through the holiday. I sometimes forget she's a civilian you know?" Carmen bowed her head for a second.

"She'll be fine." Flack reassured her before pulling into Carmen's street. "Doesn't sound like you guys got much of a holiday though." He said before parking the car and twisting in his seat to face her. Carmen did the same.

"It doesn't feel like we did either, next to getting caught up in a bank robbery, having to indecently expose myself, and almost having to call Mac to come bail us out of an Italian jail cell…" she trailed off, before picking up her rant again as she looked at him.

"On top of that our luggage somehow ended up in Iceland despite the fact we were on a non stop flight from Rome. Go figure…it's been a pretty stressful week." Flack stifled a laugh but he couldn't keep the grin off his face.

"Seriously, I'm glad I chose my expensive underwear to wear back on the plane otherwise I would of lost that too." Carmen teased. Flack's grin got wider as he shook his head. There was a comfortable silence between them; Carmen was surprised to realize that she had actually missed Flack a lot.

"How's things been at home anyway?" she asked breaking the air of quiet.

"Same old, same old, Arrested Jojo again, Lindsay's still pining over Danny despite the fact he's dating Cory, bought a new tie." He held it out pointedly to her.

Carmen giggled before adding, "I noticed. I see your taste in ties hasn't got any better." Flack scowled at her playfully. Carmen reached into her bag

"Actually I got you something." She said blushing before taking out a small, black carrier bag, and handing it to Flack. He studied the bag in his hands for a second before opening it and removing a wrapped gift. Delicately he unwrapped that too.

"I couldn't quite be as eccentric as your taste but I did try." Carmen told him as Flack held up a purple silk tie covered in strange powder blue explosions of color.

"It looks like Fourth of July vomited on it." He said affectionately, before caressing the fabric in his finger tips. His startling electric blue eyes met hers. "Thank you." He gently rewrapped the tie and replaced it in its bag before turning to face her again.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" he asked so suddenly she thought she'd imagined it.

"I was planning to do laundry but alas I lack the clothes in which to do it." She told him, partially glad her luggage had gone astray.

"Let me take you out somewhere, you know you can get at least one good day before you return to work." Carmen felt a smile creep across her face.

"What did you have in mind?" she asked playing with the straps of her bag. She could feel Flack's eyes on her.

"It's a surprise, my treat saying thanks for the tie." She glanced up as he spoke.

"You know normal people would just say thank you and have done with it." She replied humorously.

"Well both me and you know Princess, our lives lack normalcy." Carmen tilted her head from side to side debating his words.

"That's probably true." She murmured before yawning out loud. "I gotta get to bed." She said opening the car door slightly and gathered her bag and jacket. "Thanks for the lift." She said climbing out of the car and stepping onto the side walk.

"I'll call you tomorrow, it'll be early afternoon, let you get your beauty sleep." He winked before she shut the door and walked towards her apartment building barely able to wait until she fell into bed.

**~G~H~**

Taylor sighed and shut the door to her apartment behind her. She didn't regret the decision she and Don had made, after all, it had been the right one. But right now, she really wanted to curl up in his arms and fall asleep. He had the ability to make her feel safe and right then that was all she wanted.

Taylor headed to the bedroom, quickly dumping her handbag on the bed and shedding out of her clothes. Then she dove into the shower, grateful for the comfort the hot water was giving her.

At about four that morning, she was still awake, curled up on the sofa watching reruns of _Knightrider_, when Marty walked in.

"What are you still doing up?" He asked her as he sat down next to her

"Jet lag," she muttered into her sleeve – she'd been using her arm as a pillow.

"Tay? Are you alright?" Marty asked her in concern. Almost as soon as they had been released from the police station, she had called him and told him what had happened (including the ghost part).

Taylor sat swiveled around on the couch so that she was now using Marty as a pillow. "I'm fine," she told him. "I just," she sighed, "I just have a really bad feeling gnawing away at me which I can't seem to shake."

"Taylor," said Marty, speaking softly, "a guy died in front of you as you were being held up in a bank. Of course you have a bad feeling."

"I know," she told him as he began to shake her hair. "It's just; this is a different bad feeling than normal. Like it was just the beginning."

Marty gave her shoulder a squeeze. "You're on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Nothing's going to happen. Except maybe Sid is going to tell you details of his personal life again."

Taylor rolled onto her back so she was staring up at him and arched an eyebrow. "Do I want to know?"

"Put it this way," Marty told her. "I would rather be held up in a bank than listen to Sid tell me about his bedroom antics."

Taylor laughed and turned her attention back to the television. _Marty's right_, she thought as he changed the channel to a black and white movie that looked suspiciously like _Casablanca_. _The bad guys are in jail in Italy. And life will return to normal with Maddy waking me up in a couple of hours with a ghost who got killed by a toothbrush._

She was half right.

**~G~H~**

**AN:**

_Swede85 – Sparky-Well, Taylor does feature in my story as well, so you'll find a familiar character! - Aphina: lol! You can read this without the other two stories, but if you want go ahead we always love new readers. Lol Taylor features in both of our stories!_

_Meadow567 – Sparky-Thanks! - Aphina: Glad you're liking it so far._

_Volonta Forte – Sparky-They come from many Red Bulls! Really, we do try to IM at least once a week (depending on our schedules) and most of them come from there. Then some of them our muses randomly put in! - Aphina: lol the truth is we all are energizer bunnies! Seriously we all work hard with each other and our muses to try and do the best we can with this story. I think we're just lucky that our muses seem to be related._

_Madison Bellows – Sparky-Thanks! I'd love to have it published! Maybe you can put a bug in the producer's ear? (:D) – Aphina: LMAO! I wish we could publish this. We'd all be proud parents._


	4. A Date and a Ghost

**Gotham's Heroes is a collective story from SparkyCSI, Aphina and Axellia (please read the author bio for further information). **

**Whilst we own our OC's, even when we combine our savings, we are not even close to owning a percentage of CSI: NY - so don't sue us!**

**Gotham's Heroes**

**Chapter 4. A Date and a Ghost?**

Carmen lay in bed staring at the ceiling as the sun soaked the room though the opening in the curtains. Her hands were tucked behind her head. She was aware that the beginnings of a problem were being to occur. She debated ringing Taylor but after glancing at the digital clock on her nightstand, she decided that nine thirty was a little too early to be calling her.

Carmen found herself deeply worried about the other girl. She was frightened that Taylor may be harbouring some sort of guilt over the bank manager despite the fact there was nothing she could have done. On top of that Carmen's own guilt was beginning to set in over the events that were beginning to unfold over Donald Flack. He and Taylor had only recently broken up and she was beginning to find herself liking him more and more as the days wore on. Taylor had saved her life back at the bank in Italy by knocking the man behind her to the ground, and Carmen wasn't about to forget that.

She tilted her head and glanced at the clock again, it had been 4 minutes since her last check. She decided to get up and go for a run to clear her head before Flack called. She wondered what she should do, make her excuses or go along with it, after all it wasn't a date he'd asked her on, just something to make her feel a little bit better about the holiday.

She sighed throwing back the bed quilt and stepping clad only in a pair of black panties and a black strap top towards the living room to put the kettle on.

The impatient knock on the door stopped her mid-step. She moved her eyes to her gun resting on top of the cabinet next to the door, before returning to her room to pick up a silk, forest green robe. She felt it brush above her knees as she tread suspiciously towards the door.

Her hand cupped the gun as the knock came yet again, more insistent than before. She took a deep breath, sliding the gun behind her back and opening the door with the chain still on. Carmen peered at the man on the other side of the door.

"Delivery for a Ms. Devine. You'll need to sign for it." She looked the delivery man up and down before setting her gun on the side and taking off the lock. He pushed the clipboard towards her, holding the rather large bouquet of vibrant colourful flowers in one arm. Carmen signed her signature before taking them off the delivery man and retreating into her apartment, locking the door automatically. She set them down on the small dining table and picked up the ivory card amongst the sweet scented flowers.

'_Sorry but was called in. I'll make it up to you tonight, Princess."_

The signature was illusive but she would recognize that writing anywhere. A small smile crossed her face as she felt a flush of heat run through her. She felt giddy as she picked up the phone and called Flack's number.

"_Flack._"

"Thank you for the flowers, they're beautiful." Carmen said picking up the bobble she'd left on the table previously and pulling her hair into a messy bun.

"I felt kind of bad running out on you when I said we'd do something." Flack admitted sitting at his desk and tapping his pen on his leg gently.

"And just how are you planning to make it up to me by the way." Carmen asked playfully putting, whilst putting the cordless phone in the cradle of her neck and slipping a tea bag into her mug whilst pouring the boiling water into it.

"Well how about dinner tonight if I get off shift when I'm supposed to?" He grinned as he leant forward in his seat and rested his elbows on the desk. "I know you like Italian and I cook a great Carbonara," he continued. "I may even get you something nice for dessert if you're a good girl." His tone lowered as he spoke, making Carmen bite her bottom lip and close her eyes for a second.

"I'm finding this invitation even more alluring," she teased, stirring her cup now and emptying her teabag into the bin.

"I'm thinking my place at eight-thirty," he murmured, glancing up as Stella entered the room and waving a free hand at her.

"I'll bring the wine." Carmen offered, peering into her fridge and drawing out the milk, and began undoing the milk top.

By this time Stella was looking pointedly at Flack waving an evidence report practically under his nose. He stared at her helplessly for a second.

"Look I gotta go," he muttered as Stella crossed her arms over her chest.

"See you later," Carmen whispered before ending the call. She looked down and realized she'd spent the last two minutes pouring milk into the cup resulting in an overflow of exceedingly milky tea across the work surface.

_Damn Flack_. She thought as she moved to mop it up.

**~G~H~**

Meanwhile, across town, Cory was just waking up around eight-thirty. She stretched luxuriously in bed. A smile played across her face as she remembered how sweet Danny had been the previous night. He had driven her to her apartment and made sure that she made it to her apartment door before giving her a soft kiss good-night.

She had proceeded to fall into bed after her shower and slept for almost twelve hours. She sighed as she got out of bed, feeling rested for the first time in a week. As she walked into the bedroom, she glanced at herself in the mirror and broke out laughing. Her waist length hair was sticking out in every direction. _Well, I guess I'm straightening it today._

Almost an hour later, she had finished with her hair. She glanced in the mirror and felt much better about herself. She had been replaying the previous week in her head, not willing to admit she had actually had a premonition about the bank robbery.

Suddenly, she stopped. A thought raced through her head. "Crap. I wonder how Tay is. She is not used to what we went through. Crap. Crap. Crap. Why didn't I think about this last night?" Cory rolled her eyes at herself as she made her way to her room and her cell phone.

Punching in a number, she called Taylor and prayed that she would answer the phone. Her heart sunk as the voicemail picked up. "Hey, Tay. It's Cory. I was just calling to check up on you. Call me when you get this. Maybe we can meet for lunch? Please."

She sighed as she put down the phone and began to unpack the carry-on bag that she still had with her. She unpacked the gifts she had gotten for her friends and was about to toss the bag aside, when she saw a small package at the bottom.

A confused look crossed her face, when she realized that she had found it after they had gotten back to the hotel from the police station. Carefully, she unwrapped it and was startled to see a knickknack of the Pantheon. _Where in the hell did this come from?_ She wondered.

**~G~H~**

In contrast, Taylor's morning was nowhere near as pleasant.

She had finally fallen asleep at some time around six (a while after Marty) still curled up with him, but when she awoke, she was alone on the couch with a blanket wrapped around her.

She was trying to stretch the crick in her neck out when she shivered. The room was freezing. As she pulled the blanket around her, she spotted her friend in the corner of the room.

"Good holiday?" Maddy asked. She and Maddy had been best friends since the seventh grade. Maddy was a petite woman with an all year tan, thanks to her mother who was Cuban. She had started dying her hair platinum blonde in the tenth grade. Although Maddy was originally from New York City, she had transferred to the same school in San Diego Taylor attended and the two had been inseparable ever since – they had even gone to NYU together. And now, even though Maddy was dead, the two had remained close. It was probably due to with the fact that whenever a ghost came to Taylor, it was accompanied by Maddy.

Taylor arched an eyebrow at her ghostly friend. "Why do I get the feeling you already know the answer to that question?"

Maddy shrugged her response.

"_Lei deve fermare loro._"

Taylor frowned. "Stop who?"

"_Lei deve fermare loro_," the ghost repeated.

Taylor sighed impatiently. "I can't stop anyone unless you tell me who _they_ are."

"_Lei deve fermare loro_."

"It is such a good thing you're already dead," Taylor muttered under her breath as she rose to her feet. "I'm getting a shower, and I'm getting dressed." She glared at the ghost before she noticed the clock. It was after four in the afternoon. No wonder Marty wasn't there.

"_Lei deve fermare loro._"

"I get the frickin' picture already," Taylor shot as the ghost as she stalked into the bathroom.

**~G~H~**

"_Lei deve fermare loro_."

Taylor threw her toothbrush at the ghost, cursing when it sailed through him and hit the wall on the other side. The ghost had followed her through the door and periodically told her _she must stop them_ in Italian the entire way through her shower.

"Maddy, get the ghost out of my face," Taylor told her dead friend through gritted teeth.

"Maybe what he has to say is important," Maddy shrugged.

"I think I got that impression after the thirtieth time he said it," she growled.

"Fine." Maddy grabbed a hold of the ghost and the two disappeared, leaving Taylor to throw on a clean pair of combats (black) and a fresh camisole (cerise) before she dashed out of the door, running the short distance to the crime lab.

**~G~H~**

_Madison Bellows – Axellia here… look, I do actually do something! Lol. Well, it's nice to have worked myself into oblivion, had no idea what's going on with this story, and come back to see such fantastic reviews! I'm not going to give anything away… but the bad feeling – well, Taylor's certainly on to something. Sparky here...Taylor's feelings are usually spot on, so look forward to a lot of action! - Aphina - lol I love your reviews, I loved reading the luggage scene because I can so imagine Taylor doing it!_

_meadow567 – Axellia...We're trying hard with this story, so you've just going to have to be patient. Sparky... (:p) I'm not going to reveal all the secrets! - Aphina- It would no fun if you weren't going to be surprised._

_miss wizard of oz – Axellia...Taylor's stuck with Flack in WTECS. In this fic, well, I have no idea what the reaction is going to be, but I've had fun writing what's going to happen (:p). Sparky...You changed your pen name! We really talked over how we were going to work the whole, Taylor and Carmen were both with Flack in 2 of the stories. We compromised. :D I'll admit it was fun going back to the beginnings of Cory and Danny's relationship. - Aphina - My stories not for everyone, so no probs. I have to agree with sparkycsi, I loved writing a different beginning to Flack and Carmen's relationship. Trust me it's an interesting compromise._


	5. Stalked by the Dead

**Gotham's Heroes is a collective story from SparkyCSI, Aphina and Axellia (please read the author bio for further information). **

**Whilst we own our OC's, even when we combine our savings, we are not even close to owning a percentage of CSI: NY - so don't sue us!**

**Gotham's Heroes**

**Chapter 5. Stalked by the Dead**

Taylor arrived at the crime lab a short time later and hammered on the call button for the elevator.

"It's not going to make that come any quicker," Hawkes chuckled as he joined her at the elevator.

"What case are you working on?" Taylor asked him, ignoring the pleasantries.

"Are you alright?"

Taylor sighed, "Sorry Sheldon. I have a somewhat insistent ghost."

"Well, in that case, it's definitely not me who you can help. I've got a grand theft auto. Someone stole a top end Range Rover."

"There was no one shot somewhat execution-style to the side of the head?" Taylor asked as she stared at the ghost that had appeared again.

Hawkes placed his hand sympathetically on her shoulder, "Not with me. But I don't know what the others have. Try Lindsay. She had a 419 this morning."

Taylor shut her eyes as she actually winced. She had no problem whatsoever with Lindsay… other than the fact the CSI didn't believe in ghosts. Which was sometimes slightly problematic when Lindsay was working the case.

"You getting in?" Hawkes asked, holding the door to the elevator open. Taylor nodded – she hadn't even realized that it had appeared.

**~G~H~**

Flack and Stella were standing side by side and looking over the witness statements from their latest case when she decided to speak.

"Sounded like an interesting phone call." She remarked dryly not looking away from the paper in front of her.

Flack turned his head towards her studying her through her curls with a grin.

"Don't you think you're moving a little too fast, you and Taylor only broke up, what, a month ago?" Stella leaned on her hands her head turning to face Don, whose smile was fading.

"She broke up with me, remember Stella. She broke up with me!" Flack exclaimed, his voice rising as he straightened up. Stella faced him head on, hands on her hips.

"It doesn't mean she isn't gonna feel awful if she finds out that you've just arranged a date with random woman, it's not fair Flack. Even if you don't have any feelings for Taylor, at least be a bit more sensitive and don't flaunt it in her face." Flack stared at Stella, his mouth working up and down whilst staring at her.

"Are you kidding me Stel? You eavesdropped on my conversation!" he retorted.

"You were talking loud enough for the whole station to hear. I'm just saying despite what you may be getting up to, Taylor doesn't need it rubbed in her face so be more tactful and don't start bringing your business to the station." Stella warned eyeing him pointedly.

Flack rolled his eyes in response as Stella yanked up the sheets of paper littering the desk and stalked back towards the lab.

**~G~H~**

Cory was starting to get worried. She had left three messages for Taylor with no response. Finally, around four, she decided to call Carmen. Worried, she dialed her number.

"_Hello?"_

"Hey, Carmen. It's Cory."

"_Hey. What's up?"_

Cory sighed. "Have you heard from Taylor today?"

"_Nope. I called her and left a message around noon, but she hasn't called me back."_

"I'm worried, Carmen," Cory sighed. "I've left her three messages. She's been acting strange since the bank robbery."

Carmen nodded to herself. _"Did you see her when she was trying to save the bank manager's life? She was just staring into space. She looked like she had seen a ghost!"_

"I know! Then she's just pulled into herself. We need to get together with her and make sure that she is okay. Think we can do dinner tonight?"

Carmen was caught off guard. _"Um…I kinda have plans. What about tomorrow?"_

Cory raised her eyebrows. "You have plans? With whom?"

Carmen silently debated with herself before answering the question. _"Flack,"_ she said softly. _"But, you can't tell Taylor! I don't want to hurt her feelings."_

"Flack?" Cory asked in surprise. "How…When?"

Carmen giggled at Cory's loss of words. _"A couple of weeks. We've been flirting. Then I got him this truly awful tie in Italy and he wants to cook dinner for me as a thank you."_

"Really," Cory stated. "Alright. I won't tell Taylor, but if things do take off between you two, you have to tell her. It wouldn't be fair to keep this from her."

"_Okay. I agree. Thanks."_

"No problem. I do have a question for you. I found a knickknack that is in the shape of the Pantheon in my bag. Did you get it for me?"

"_Nope. Maybe Taylor did."_

Cory sighed. "Maybe. I'm going to try to call her again. Why don't we meet up for lunch tomorrow?"

"_That sounds good to me. I'll talk to you later."_

Cory smiled. "Okay. Have fun tonight." With a laugh, Cory hung up. She sighed as she dialed the phone again and was put through to Taylor's voicemail for the fourth time. "Taylor, it's Cory. Please call me."

Sighing, Cory hung up the phone again, an uneasy feeling fluttering in her stomach.

**~G~H~**

Carmen looked at herself in the mirror before running the brush through her hair one last time. She was wearing a dark green silk sleeveless, v-neck top with dark blue jeans and black ankle boots. She had applied very little make up. After all this was really a date just dinner with a friend, wasn't it?

She moved through from the bedroom to the kitchen before picking up the bottle of semi-expensive white wine bottle and shutting the front door behind her.

Carmen rapped on Flack's door lightly, feeling butterflies fluttering in her stomach. The door opened revealing a tired looking Flack clad in a navy blue button down shirt and jeans. She felt her knees go a little weak.

"Hey. Come in," he said with a warm smile taking her coat as she stepped in.

Carmen had been to the apartment a few times before always in the company of other people, normally a few beers with Danny and Linds while watching a game, but she had never seen it like this.

The lights were dimmed and candles illuminated a dining table draped with a blue checkered table cloth. This was anything but two friends having dinner.

"I…I brought wine," she stammered thrusting the wine forward at his chest. He took it gracefully, his eyes appraising her body gently. Carmen blushed before helping herself to a seat. Flack uncorked the bottle of wine and poured it into two glasses before setting them both on the table along with the bottle. Next he slipped two plates onto it, before settling into his seat.

Carmen picked up her fork and glanced at him sitting comfortably. Their eyes met locking for a brief second before Carmen turned her head away.

"Sorry for cancelling on you today. I was kinda looking forward to hanging out," he said looking distracted. Carmen frowned for a second.

"You don't need to apologize I know what the job's like," she reminded him and patted his arm gently without thinking. Flack pulled his arm from under hers and clasped her fingers with his hand, stroking them gently. Carmen froze caught up with in the tingling sensation that was rushing through her and a slight sensation of guilt.

She pulled her hand away as slowly as she could before continuing to eat. Flack's eyes were on her.

"Did you order out?" she asked suddenly. Flack shook his head with a smile.

"Is it really that good?" he teased. Carmen nodded seriously.

"I have chocolate ice cream for dessert, with real chocolate chunks." Carmen raised an eyebrow at his statement.

"Have you been talking to Lindsey about me?" she choked. For a second she thought she'd seen him blush.

"She talked at me, I just took notes." He dimpled. Carmen laughed as Don stood up to clear the table, she rose to help him, before he shooed her away.

"Go sit down on the couch, relax," he coaxed yanking the dishes out of her reach, unfortunately putting her at close up quarters between him and the table. They both stood still for a second; Carmen could feel his breath on her face.

"You deserve it, sit down and I'll bring…" She wasn't sure who started the kiss first but the next thing she knew the dishes had disappeared and his arms were wrapped around her. Fire raced through her as his lips caressed hers. She was lost in his touch as her hands curled around his neck, as his slid down her back.

They both pulled away breathless, his forehead pressed against hers. They were still leaning against the table. His bright blue eyes were staring into hers.

"I…" she began, before the cell phone in her bag began to ring.

**~G~H~**

It was late evening by the time Taylor managed to get out of the crime lab. She had all but stalked the CSI's in an attempt to work out who the ghost was, and had come up with nothing.

In the end, she had gone down to the morgue and chatted to Marty whilst she waited for the body to come in. Strangely, even though Marty could see ghosts, he couldn't see the Italian speaking one when he turned up to drive Taylor a little closer to the fine border line of sanity.

It was only because Sid had turned up and become a little too curious as to why the journalist was still there after several hours, that she realized that it was time to go.

She discreetly left a description with her roommate as to what the ghost looked like, just in case, and left.

A while later, she settled onto her couch and was about to flick the television on when her cell phone rang. With a frown wrinkling her forehead, she began pulling the cushions back, trying to locate the ringing phone.

She finally found it under the television (and with no clue how it had gotten there) and discovered forty eight missed calls. The majority of which were from her voicemail telling her she had messages.

She settled back and listened to them. Once she had been through them, she began the task of returning them. Cory was top of the list.

'_Taylor?'_

'Yeah, it's me-'

'_I've been trying to get a hold of you all day!" _Cory exclaimed, cutting her off mid-sentence.

"Sorry," Taylor frowned, "I didn't even realized I didn't have my phone with me. I've been in the morgue with Marty for the majority of the afternoon."

"_Taylor,"_ Cory started slowly, _"are you alright? I mean, you don't seem to have been yourself since the incident in the bank."_

Taylor sighed, "I'm fine. Really," she insisted.

Cory hesitated,"_I don't think you are."_

Taylor lay down and shut her eyes, "I'd just never had someone die on me before. They'd always already been dead. I can't seem to shake the feeling that I could have done more."

"_Taylor, honey, you all but had your hands inside of him. He had been shot far too many times. He was never going to make it."_

"I know. I just… I'm just not used to it."

"_Taylor, can I ask you something?"_

"Sure."

"_Don't take this the wrong way, but it's clear you're not happy around the dead. So why do you spend so much time at the crime lab."_

Taylor let out a dry chuckle, "It's my job."

"_Have you considered writing, maybe, current affairs instead?"_ Cory suggest, clearly thinking the paper was to blame.

"Somehow, I don't think I have the option," Taylor sighed, "and I'm not sure I'd want to anyway."

"_Look, Carmen and I are going to meet up for lunch tomorrow. Do you want to join us?"_

"Sure," Taylor smiled, "that sounds great."

"_Great. Fabio's on Broadway at midday. Hey, Taylor?"_

"What?"

"_Did you get me a little ornament of the Pantheon?"_

"A what? No. At least I don't think so."

"_I think I'm going out of my mind," _Cory laughed. _"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow."_

Taylor said her goodbyes and hung up the phone before returning some of the other calls she had missed.

She was mid-way through a call with her mother when the ghost appeared again who she promptly hung up on and ignored the calls as her mother tried to call back.

"_Lei deve fermare loro_."

"He's pretty insistent," Maddy mused, flopping down on the couch.

"Insistent? He beats you when you're stalking Sheldon."

'Guy's hot. What can I say?" Maddy shrugged.

"Guy's alive," Taylor retorted, rolling her eyes. It seemed that Maddy was still unable to accept that fact.

"_Lei deve fermare loro._"

Taylor whipped her head around to glare at the ghost who was still missing the back portion of his head. "Look, I can't help you unless you give me something more to go on. I get that there is someone that I need to stop. But I can't do it unless you either tell me who they are, or who you are. So, by all means, be the broken record, but I'm going to be until Marty calls me and tells me that your body has been brought in."

She shot both the ghosts a final glare and then stalked into her bedroom, slamming the door shut behind her.

**~G~H~**

_Meadow567: -Aphina – lol it's funny watching Tay's reaction to the dead sometimes. –Sparky – I love the ghosts that follow Tay around. This one seems to be really insistant! – Axellia – Trust me when I say there was many, many nights worth of planning to get this to fit together! Hopefully, it will all gel nicely._

_Mac's Girl:-Aphina- We're keeping that a secret for now, hence it'll be a bigger surprise when it gets going. We're trying to update once a week but all of us have work so it's a little bit hard to update on time. –Sparky – I'm not breaking our secret keeping pact! I think everyone will be surprised, though! I'm glad you're liking it. It's our baby! – Axellia – oh, she's gonna be with ducks at the hands flying towards her okay, I can't say._

_Miss Wizard of Oz: -Aphina- lol I'm glad, Simply Devine, is pretty long though, so I know a lot of people don't have time to read it. –Sparky – At least this fic will not affect any of our other fics! –Axellia – I do get the ship. And the ship is staying in WTECS. In this one, I'm having fun._

_Maddy Bellows: -Aphina- No way are you more shameless than I am, I am awful when it comes to plugging. Lol and we do know a good therapist. Shh you'll give away the next chapter if you keep doing that. I wish I had a Flack! –Sparky – Cory is always good for the drama! I don't write humor was well as Aphina and Axellia. I may take you up on that offer with Cory in Déjà vu, since I know what's coming up for that, and trust me-she's going to need one! – Axellia – I think we're all bad at the plugging (:p) Flack can make a girl do many a thing! I agree with you on that!_

_Lozzarooni: -Sparky – I hope you do stick around! This is chock full of drama! – Axellia – I hope you stick around too! And I also hope you enjoy the story, more importantly! _


	6. I See Dead People

**Gotham's Heroes is a collective story from SparkyCSI, Aphina and Axellia (please read the author bio for further information). **

**Whilst we own our OC's, even when we combine our savings, we are not even close to owning a percentage of CSI: NY - so don't sue us!**

**Gotham's Heroes**

**Chapter 6. I See Dead People**

Taylor glared stonily out of the window, watching the blackness go by, as she rode the subway to the other end of the island to meet Cory and Carmen.

To say she was in a foul mood was something of an understatement. She had been woken periodically through the night by the ghost she was now calling 'Woody.' (After Woody Woodpecker – because he was pretty much pecking at her head.)

"_Lei deve fermare loro._"

Taylor narrowed her eyes, ignoring the ghost that was standing next to her. She wasn't even going to tell him to get lost – not with the train being as crowded as it was. Finally, her stop arrived and she got off, still ignoring the two ghosts that were trailing her and headed to the café.

Cory had arrived first, Carmen following shortly afterwards, and the two were chatting amicably about how it was actually good to be back at work.

Cory took a sip of water and looked up, noticing Taylor heading their way through the tables.

"Is it me, or does she look really pissed off about something?" she asked, leaning over to Carmen.

Carmen turned her head to look at the tall woman. "I think 'pissed' might be a very generous description," she replied as she watched Taylor glare at… well, it looked like one of the photos on the wall. "Either that, or she really doesn't like Elvis."

"Hey Taylor," Cory greeted the journalist as she dropped into the seat opposite. "Are you okay?"

Taylor forced a smile, "I didn't sleep well last night. I kept getting woken up."

Carmen smiled sympathetically, "I lived with noisy neighbors back in Portland. It was hell."

Taylor rolled her tongue over her upper teeth but said nothing.

"What's good to eat here?" Cory asked Carmen.

"Pretty much everything," Carmen told her, keeping half an eye on Taylor, who was glaring at something just to her right. "But I'd stay clear of the shellfish."

"_Lei deve fermare loro._"

Taylor scowled, grabbed her napkin and flicked it venomously to her side (conveniently in Woody's face) before she dropped it in her lap.

Cory watched the action in concern. She turned to Carmen and arched her eyebrows, who, having seen the same thing, shrugged back.

"So," Cory started as she pulled her purse onto the table, "I found this when I got back. Any ideas?"

"_Lei deve fermare loro._"

"Shut up, already," Taylor hissed out of the corner of her mouth. Seeing the look both the other women were giving her, she cleared her throat and picked up the miniature Pantheon.

"It just turned up in your bag?" Carmen asked Cory

"Yeah," Cory frowned. Taylor was acting really strangely.

"That's really weird. But I've never seen it before."

"_Lei deve fermare loro._"

"Will you just shut the hell up?" Taylor snapped.

"Uh, sorry?" Carmen apologized.

Taylor looked over at the two women and turned beet red. "No, not you. The… Sorry, I, uh… the penguins are stealing my sanity?"

"Taylor," Cory started slowly, "did you forget to take something this morning?"

Taylor smiled uncomfortably as the waitress came over to take their order, waited patiently for her to leave and then excused herself. "I'll be right back," she told them, although she was looking at something else.

Carmen watched her leave. "How well do you actually know her?"

Cory shrugged. "Obviously not that well." She frowned as she saw that Taylor had stopped in the entryway to the bathroom, rather than enter, and was talking to… herself? "Who is she talking to?"

Carmen leant around the table so that she was practically in Cory's lap. "I'd say either herself, or that plant. And I'm not sure which one's worse."

Taylor stalked away from the table and headed towards the bathroom. She stopped when she figured she was out of earshot of everyone and whirled around to glare at her dead friend and her companion. "Madeline Almeada, get that frickin' ghost out of my face before my friends get me admitted into a psychiatric ward."

Maddy held her hands up. "I don't have any power over Casper."

"That is no _friendly ghost_," Taylor fumed, jamming her thumb in Woody's direction.

"_Lei deve fermare loro._"

Taylor raked her hands through her hair, "if you don't shut up, the only person who's going to need stopping is me, when I kick your ghostly ass out of the window."

"Taylor," Maddy smiled, "we're not corporeal. You can't really hurt us."

Taylor shot a glare that, had Maddy been alive, would have certainly made sure she wasn't. "You want to test that theory?"

Maddy bit her lip. "Look, he's trying desperately to get you to help him."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Taylor apologized, her tone laced with sarcasm, "I thought he was trying to persuade me to go buy a Britney CD." She inhaled deeply and turned to Woody. "Your body hasn't come to the morgue," she told him slowly. "Unless you tell me where to find it, there is nothing I can do. So back off and let me eat my meal in peace."

With a final glare, she headed back to the table.

As Carmen looked over at her as she sat down, a thought occurred to her – was she in a bad mood because she knew about her and Flack?

Catching the concerned stares from Cory and Carmen, Taylor smiled at them, "I see dead people?" she offered with a shrug.

Both women stared at her in complete bewilderment.

"_LEI DEVE FERMARE LORO!_"

Woody appeared from nowhere and yelled at Taylor, causing her to jump, and knock the Pantheon to the floor.

"Girl, what the _hell_ is the matter with you?" Cory exclaimed as she jumped at Taylor's sudden movement, sending her glass of water all over Carmen.

Carmen jumped up as the water splashed over her. "I agree. Taylor what the hell is wrong with you!"

Taylor sighed, knowing that she couldn't keep the secret from them any longer. "Look. I'll tell you, but not here."

Cory sighed. "Fine." She turned and waived at the waitress. "Excuse me. We've had something unexpected come up. Can we get our food to go, please?"

The waitress nodded and turned to walk away, throwing them a relieved look over her shoulder.

Cory noticed the look and sighed again as she bent down to pick up the broken knickknack. As she was picking up the broken pieces, she noticed as flash drive. She held it up to show the other women. "What the hell? Why was this in there?"

Carmen looked at the small device. "Wait. Is that a flash drive?" At Cory's affirmative nod, she continued, "Where did you find that?"

Taylor looked at Woody, who seemed much calmer. "_Lei deve fermare loro_." Taylor sighed. "Okay. I get it."

All three women seemed lost in their thoughts as they paid for their dinner. Cory looked at Taylor and Carmen. "I think we should go to my place," she said.

Carmen nodded. "Lead the way."

**~G~H~**

When they entered Cory's apartment, Carmen looked at Taylor. "Okay, Taylor. What the hell has been going on with you?"

Cory and Carmen sat down watching Taylor pace back and forth, wringing her hands together nervously.

"Taylor, please just tell us," Cory pleaded gently with her.

Taylor stopped and looked over at Cory and Carmen. They didn't look angry – only concerned. She took a deep breathe and exhaled slowly. "Okay. Just… just promise to hear me out, and please don't try to admit me to a mental hospital when I'm done."

"Why would we want to admit you to a mental hospital?" Cory asked her.

"I used to date Flack," Taylor started, staring out of the window so she didn't notice the guilty look flash across Carmen's face. "It was… it was nice. But we broke up because he couldn't handle what I'm about to tell you."

Carmen frowned – she was falling for the detective, and she was certain he felt the same way about her. She was also pretty certain that he wouldn't have broken up with Taylor unless it was something serious. She was almost too scared to hear this.

"So, about six months, before I even stepped into the Crime Lab, I was sitting at home, straightening my hair and… well, I looked up and I suddenly wasn't alone. I, uh… there was a ghost." She laughed uncomfortably.

"A ghost?" Carmen repeated, partly relieved, partly worried.

"Sounds crazy, doesn't it. I thought I had lost my mind," she sighed. "Still never convinced myself otherwise on that one. Anyway, I headed to the police station, got sent to Mac, and the next thing I know, I'm helping them find the ghost's murderer. They keep coming to me, and I keep going to the crime lab to see if I can help them, and help the CSI's. Danny, Stella and Hawkes know. Well, they all know, but it's only those three who believe me."

Cory was surprised. _Danny knew this and never said anything?_

Taylor caught her expression, "I made him promise not to say anything. I didn't want anyone else to know. Especially not after how things ended with Don." She sighed again. "There's a bit more, too. When they visit me, they're with Maddy. She was my best friend all the way from middle school, right up until the day she was killed. Oh, and yeah, there's a ghost pestering me at the moment, only it's body hasn't turned up, but it's not giving me anything to go on other than, '_lei deve fermare loro_' or you have to stop them. That was why I was acting weird – they were at the restaurant.' She looked expectantly at the two detectives who were staring at her. "Well?"

Carmen turned her head towards Cory.

"I'm wondering when we adopted one of New York's crazies and failed to notice it until now," Carmen responded rising to her feet and grabbing her bag.

"Don't you think there may be a slight element of truth to her story…" Cory also rose to her feet facing Carmen. Taylor stood watching them reproachfully, arms crossed over her chest.

"I'm a scientist Cory, and if you wanna believe her crap and spiel about ghosts then go ahead but I for one…"

There was a smashing sound as a glass hit the wall next to Carmen. She spun around to face Taylor who was staring and gaping at the spot the glass had hit.

"Taylor…" Carmen's eyes were full of fury. "Did you just throw a glass at me?"

Taylor shook her head raising her hands as Carmen continued to glare at her.

"Are you trying to tell me a ghost…?" Carmen froze as one of Cory's mugs levitated a few inches above the table and launched itself at her. She managed to duck in time before it hit the wall behind her, erupting into an explosion of shards.

There was silence for a second, as they watched another cup begin to float.

"Put that down! You throw anything else at her and I'm not going to be helping you do anything!" Taylor yelled at the floating cup. Both Cory and Carmen stood stunned, watching as the cup set itself down back in its original place as if nothing had happened.

Taylor's hands were on her hips, her expression exasperated as she faced the two women.

"Now do you see what I have to put up with?" she uttered before collapsing into a nearby chair.

"Ok." Carmen dropped to the sofa as Cory moved to the kitchen to make tea. Carmen was shivering. She leaned forward her hands clasped together. Taylor knew she was struggling to comprehend with this new revelation.

"I know this is hard to accept, but it gets easier." she offered awkwardly. Carmen raised her eyes to Taylor's face as Cory set the teapot between them.

"I believe you."

Taylor looked at Cory in shock. "What? You believe me? Just like that? No fighting, no having to convince you? Why?"

Cory smiled. "Because I can see them, too. Always. Since I was a little girl. I can't hear what they are saying and that is so frustrating, but I can see them."

Carmen looked at Cory, feeling like a landed fish. "Great," she muttered. "Am I on _Candid Camera_ or something?"

Cory laughed. "Feels like, doesn't it. But it's real." Cory sighed softly. She looked at Taylor and then to Carmen. She sighed again.

Taylor looked at Cory, sensing that she had something else to say. "What?"

Cory looked up and met her eyes. "I guess I should come clean, too."

Taylor frowned. "Okay," she drawled out. "You really don't work for the FBI and you escaped from a mental hospital?" she asked, trying to break the tension.

Cory laughed. "I wish." She paused a moment before continuing, "I have premonitions."

Carmen just rolled her eyes. "Please. Now you're trying to tell me you can predict the future? Seriously, what meds did you guys forget to take today?"

Cory shook her head. "I'm serious. Listen," she said, sensing that Carmen was about to brush her off. "Carmen, do you remember on the plane, when you woke me up because you couldn't get Taylor to calm down?"

Carmen nodded yes, so Cory continued. "I was having a dream. It was the bank robbery. That's why I had the sense of déjà vu at the bank. I had dreamed it."

"Are you serious?" Taylor asked, incredulously.

Cory nodded. "Yeah. Only in my dream, Carmen, you died."

Carmen's face blanched as she realized just how close Cory's dream had been to becoming a reality. She shook her head, trying to process everything. "I just…I'm at a loss."

Both Cory and Taylor laughed at that. "It takes a while to get used to it," Taylor advised.

Cory nodded and felt in her pocket for some lip gloss, brushing her hand against the flash drive. "Um, guys? What about this?" she asked as she held up the device.

**~G~H~**

_Meadow567 – (Axellia) Glad you're liking! We're trying very hard to please! (Sparky) Thanks! I hope that you keep liking it! (Aphina) lol we worked hard on it._

_Madison Bellows – (Axellia) I'm patient. I'm sure people will leave comments eventually. They could suck like I do! (Sparky) If we write it, reviewers will come. (lol) I understand, but with a new story, it takes a little bit for reviewers to come out of the woodwork. I have faith! (Aphina) lol I think it's because we're OC orientated, a lot of people prefer the original cast. I love this story and writing witth these guys it's great to see the way everyone's ideas mix._

_As for reviewers, at least we know we did our best._

_miss wizard of oz – (Axellia) Hmmm, you may be on to something there (;D) Sorry we made you wait! (Sparky) You seem to be more observant than our characters! All in good time. All in good time. (Aphina) lol we can give away no spoilers!_

_Sanqian – (Sparky) We will definitely take that into consideration. Here is some good background on Taylor, so hopefully this helps out! (Aphina) Nice to see you around these parts. Thank for the advice an checking this out!_


	7. Manifesto

**Gotham's Heroes is a collective story from SparkyCSI, Aphina and Axellia (please read the author bio for further information). **

**Whilst we own our OC's, even when we combine our savings, we are not even close to owning a percentage of CSI: NY - so don't sue us!**

**Gotham's Heroes**

**Chapter 7. Manifesto**

Taylor and Carmen looked at the flash drive, puzzlement apparent on their faces. Carmen switched into cop mode. "Are you sure you didn't buy it?"

Cory shook her head. "Positive. I found it after the robbery, but with all the follow-ups we had to do, I completely forgot."

Taylor leaned her head to the side. "Why don't you see what's on it?"

Cory nodded and opened up her laptop. After inserting the drive into the USB port, she ran several different virus scans to make sure that her laptop would not be corrupted. Once satisfied with its relative safety, she opened up the disk.

She clicked on the first word processor document and pulled it up. The other women looked on as she got a puzzled look on her face.

"Cory?" Carmen asked. "What is it? Porn?"

Cory looked up. "No. But…" she trailed off and looked up at Taylor. "Taylor. You speak Italian, do you read it?"

Taylor looked taken aback by that comment. "Yeah, I learned when my dad was stationed in Naples."

Cory nodded. "I think you should read this then. I'm pretty sure it's Italian. I know for a fact that it's not French, since I read and speak that fluently." With that, Cory plugged her laptop into her TV, so all of them could look at the document.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident," she began, then stopped. "The Declaration of Independence? What?"

She glanced at Carmen and Cory, who both shrugged their shoulders. Then she continued reading, silently. "Wait," she said. "It only has the beginning part of the Declaration. Here's where it deviates."

She continued, "_This is what the Declaration of Independence reads. However, America does not stand behind these ideals._

_Twenty years ago, our fathers, sought asylum with the so called 'Great Nation', however that was denied to them. Due to the arrogance of said Nation, our fathers were taken from us. Murdered due to their political ideals._

_So one must ask himself, why? Why were these men singled out, allowed to be murdered in cold blood in front of their wives and children? Simple answer, there was no political gain. America is a self serving nation, only helping those with whom can provide some benefit to them._

_Our fathers were a lowly group of chemists, who spoke out against the rampant Communism in Kurganakhstan. They chose to speak out against the political movement and when their voices raised dissention, they were murdered._

'_The Great Nation' could have prevented this. Six months before their assassination, they applied for and were denied asylum. Why? The official excuse was that the paperwork was never received. How? They provided proof of delivery, yet the asylum was denied. Due to the oversight or blatant lack of motivation to help free a nation from Communist rule, one can only draw their own conclusion._

_Due to complete lack of humanity, it is our duty to take from America what they took from us. _It's sighed by the Vindication of Slain Political Activists Organization." Taylor stopped reading, a feeling of dread filling her stomach. "I don't like the sound of this."

Cory and Carmen nodded. "Neither do we," Carmen said. "I just got chills."

Cory shivered as well. "So did I. I've never heard of them. I…I just don't know what to do. This is so unexpected." Cory shook her head, trying to get her brain to star working again. "I guess I can contact my Interpol contact, Alistair Murphy."

"Are there any other files on it?" Carmen asked thoughtfully, watching as Cory went into the main menu.

"They're encoded." Cory sighed frustrated.

Carmen checked the time on her watch. "I can take it to the lab and have Adam run a program on it." She offered. Taylor and Cory turned their heads towards her.

"That's a good idea." Taylor said, as Cory logged off her laptop and handed Carmen the flash drive.

"I've gotta go over there anyway…"Carmen trailed off before ending her sentence. Cory tilted her head pointedly nodding at Taylor. Carmen pursed her lips slipping the flash drive into her bag and ignoring Cory's attempt to get her to tell Taylor about Flack.

"Right I'll call you guys if Adam comes up with anything." Carmen said climbing to her feet, looking awkward.

"I'll walk you to the door." Cory said also raising to her feet. Carmen bit her lip as Cory walked her to the door and held it open.

"You have to tell her sometime." Cory murmured in a hushed whisper.

"There's nothing to tell." Carmen muttered, red flushing in her cheeks. Cory's eyes narrowed suspiciously as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"You kissed him," she accused with a lopsided smile. Carmen flushed even redder. "And you're going to meet him at the Crime Lab." Cory exclaimed, slightly louder.

"Shh…Keep it quiet!" Carmen begged. "I will tell her, but I don't know what's happening myself right now, so there's no point in making her feel crappy if it turns out to be nothing." Carmen admitted.

Cory leaned in the doorway grinning. "So what happened the other night?"

Carmen couldn't keep the smile off her face. "There was kissing but my phone went off because I was on call so we didn't have a chance to talk about it. He text me today asking if I wanted to do something tonight so I said yes."

Cory raised her eyebrows, watching the expression on Carmen's face. It was clear that Carmen was feeling guilty about the Flack situation, but it was also clear that her friend was beginning to like Flack a lot more than she was in fact saying.

"All I'm saying is don't leave it too long. Things like this have a habit of coming out themselves, and you don't want some major fallout over this." Cory warned.

Carmen looked Cory straight in the eye before she nodded.

"Have a good time anyway." Cory whispered at Carmen, who grinned again before she stepped onto the street and caught a cab to the crime lab.

Luckily when Carmen reached the Crime Lab it was empty and Adam seemed to be having a relatively slow day. After bringing him a mug of his favorite coffee, she managed to persuade him to decode the flash drive.

It was on the way out the double doors she ran into Flack.

"Hey princess." He grinned widely in her direction taking something out of his suit pocket. "I got us tickets."

Carmen looked at the two pieces of paper he was waving in her face, and smiled happily. "You must have read my mind."

**~G~H~**

Taylor left Cory's a short time after Carmen had, feeling a lot happier. It was such a relief to tell them – if only Flack had taken it that well. She brushed the feeling aside, and headed up the stair to her apartment. She was surprised to find the door ajar when she arrived.

"Marty, you left the…" she trailed off as she stepped into the apartment. It was a mess. Actually, a mess was an understatement. It was as if someone had gone through every cupboard and shelf, and then thrown the contents on the floor.

She stood there, staring at the couch which was upside down and leaking stuffing everywhere, then, brushed away some tears and pulled out her phone, dialing. When Flack didn't respond, she dialed the next person she could think of.

**~G~H~**

"Hey, Taylor," Stella answered her phone with a smile, though it quickly fell from her face as she listened to the babbling voice. "Taylor, calm down. We'll be right there."

"What's the matter?" Mac asked, watching the Greek woman over the top of his coffee pot.

Stella frowned. "Someone's broken into Taylor's place."

Mac put the coffee down, suddenly all business. "You find Lindsay and I'll grab a detective. I'll meet you at the truck in fifteen."

Stella nodded and dashed out of Mac's office. She found Lindsay in the locker room, fishing around for something in the bottom of her purse and quickly explained to her what had happened.

"Someone should tell Marty," Lindsay pointed out as the two women rode the lift down.

Stella nodded her agreement and allowed Lindsay to press the button for the floor of the morgue.

Lindsay got out and headed straight in, finding Sid, Hawkes and Marty joking around over a dead body.

"I mean, this girl was hot," Marty was laughing, "but when she turned around, the whole room saw that her dress was tucked into her panties."

"You know," Sid mused, "I usually tell the girl not to wear underwear. It usually makes things easier if you want a quick rendezvous."

"Sid, you remember that conversation we had about sharing too much information?" Hawkes asked. "Well, that was one of those times."

"Lindsay?" Marty had finally noticed the young detective standing there, looking very uncomfortable. "What's happened?"

'Your place has been broken into."

"Is Taylor alright?" He asked instantly.

Lindsay nodded, "I think so. She phoned Stella. But I don't know any details."

Marty dropped his hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone. "Battery's dead." He looked over at Sid and Hawkes.

"I'll finish of this autopsy," Sid told him. "You go."

"And I'll help with those," Hawkes nodded in the direction of the other bodies which were waiting to be examined. "You go check on Taylor and your apartment."

Marty nodded and dashed out of the door followed closely by Lindsay.

**~G~H~**

Detective Jennifer Angell was the first to arrive at the scene. Mac had called her and told her to get over pronto. Something about it being high priority.

She arrived, finding the door ajar, much like Taylor had, and drew her gun, pushing the door open further, "NYPD!" she called.

She crept through the apartment, treading carefully so as not to disturb any of the chaos further. Hearing a noise coming from one of the bedrooms, she headed in that direction, her gun still pointing in front of her.

"NYPD!" she shouted as she pushed the door back. She lowered her gun as soon as she spotted Taylor Turner sitting mournfully in the middle of the base of her bed – the mattress having been flung across the room, and the corner of it now sticking out of the window it had hit.

"Taylor?"

Taylor looked up. "Sorry about the mess," she managed to smile.

Angell holstered her gun and picked her way over, replacing the gun for a notebook. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Taylor shrugged, surveying the mess. Nothing was where it was supposed to be. She glanced down at the hand she was nursing – she had picked up a broken picture of her and her brother, and the broken glass had sliced her hand. "I went out for lunch with Carmen and Cory, and when I got back, the place was like this."

"Is anything missing?"

"I don't know." Taylor stifled a sob. "I can't tell."

Angell sighed and put her notepad in her pocket. "The CSIs will be here soon."

She wasn't wrong. Minutes later, Marty burst into the room, followed closely by Lindsay, Mac and Stella, and wrapped his arms around his roommate. "Tay? You alright?"

**~G~H~**

It was well after midnight by the time the CSIs had finished. Marty turned to Taylor, "You shouldn't stay here tonight."

"What about you?" Taylor asked him.

"I'm going to start cleaning. I'll crash at the morgue."

"I should help."

"Taylor, you should go get some sleep."

"I have a sofa-bed you can use," Angell offered, over hearing the end of the conversation. "It's deceptively comfortable."

Exhausted, Taylor nodded her head and allowed the detective to lead her out to her car and drive her back to hers.

**~G~H~**

_Tutorgirl1m1 – (Axellia) I still struggle to believe that I'm funny, and as for Taylor – I'm not giving anything away! (Sparky) Don't mind Axellia. I think she's hilarious! But I am with her…You'll just have to read to find out! (Aphina) lol thanks or the review. I'm glad you liked what you've read so far. She is funny! Lol We aim to please._

_Charmedgrays – (Axellia) Glad you like! (Sparky) Yes, after much discussion, we are pairing Taylor up with someone else (we haven't completely nailed that one down yet, though!).(Aphina) lol you hit the nail on the head there, but we're keeping a lot of things secret for now!_

_Demolished-soul – (Axellia) Okay, so we've played with the pairing with that many times now, I wouldn't want to comment through fear of changing it again! (Sparky) Completely with Axellia on this. We've changed it a couple of times and every time we think we're happy, we change it! Just stay tuned! (Aphina) I'm glad you like this! We can't comment on a pairing at the min, as the others have said it's changed so much!_

_Mauradingknight – (Axellia) Thank you! I've had so much fun writing this story, we're already discussing a sequel! (Sparky) I'm blushing! I'm glad that you like it. It's tons of fun to work with these guys since we've decided our muses were separated at birth! (Aphina) lol That really touched me! Thanks for your kind words. Sparky is right though, our muses seems to fit really well together._

_Meadow567 – (Axellia) We aim to please! (Sparky) Thanks! (Aphina) Glad you like it!_

_Miss wizard of oz – (Axellia) lol, don't put yourself down! (Sparky) That was one of my fav parts of this chapter! We do try to give clues, so the observant reader can figure some of it out! (Aphina) lol we were trying to work out what ours character's response would be towards Taylor telling them. I laughed at that bit too._

_Madison Bellows – (Axellia) Me too – it's been that long since I worked on this, I've forgotten! I had to re-read this chapter to remind myself! (Sparky) Let's just say it will be shocking and leave it at that, shall we? (:p) (Aphina) lol you'll see! I'm sure you'll be surprised._


	8. Twice is Coincidence

**Gotham's Heroes is a collective story from SparkyCSI, Aphina and Axellia (please read the author bio for further information). **

**Whilst we own our OC's, even when we combine our savings, we are not even close to owning a percentage of CSI: NY - so don't sue us!**

**Gotham's Heroes**

**Chapter 8. Twice is Coincidence, Three times Conspiracy.**

Meanwhile, on the other side of the island, Cory was just finishing up her email to her Interpol contact, Alistair Murphy. As soon as she hit the send button, she looked at the clock. "Shit," she said, after realizing the time. She hurriedly docked her laptop and went to get ready for her date with Danny.

A half-hour later, she was finished dressing. She had on a pair of Capri's and a short sleeved T-Shirt that said, "I know I'm hot. Don't stare." She had comfortable walking shoes on since Danny had said that he was taking her to Coney Island.

Just as she had finished pulling her hair back into a pony tail, her buzzer rang. She walked to it. "Yes?"

"_It's Danny."_

Cory smiled and buzzed him up. When he knocked on the door, she grabbed her purse and sunglasses and opened it up. _Wow,_ she thought as she took in what he was wearing; a pair of jeans that were tight enough to show everything, but not tight enough to cut off circulation and a simple white T-shirt.

Danny smiled as he looked at her. "You look amazing," he said.

Cory blushed. "Thanks. Ready to go?"

Danny nodded and watched as she locked up the apartment.

An hour later, they had arrived. Danny looked at Cory. "So, whadda ya want to do first?"

Cory smiled. "The Cyclone, of course!"

Danny laughed and shook his head. "Why did I ask? You've been begging to ride that ever since we met!"

"What can I say," she said sheepishly. "I love roller coasters! My favorite one so far is The Titan at Six Flags over Texas."

Danny look puzzled. "What's so special about it?"

Cory raised her eyebrows. "Besides the 112 foot drop? It's very fast paced, not as jerky as The Texas Giant and people have been known to pass out from the G-forces that you experience."

Danny looked at her in surprise. "Really?"

Cory nodded. "Yup. I love it."

Danny took her hand and began to lead her to the ride.

Several hours later, Cory was exhausted, but content. She and Danny strolled down the boardwalk, hand in hand. She was carrying a gigantic frog that Danny had won for her in a carnival game. She smiled as the feeling of rightness increased. She felt his eyes on her and turned to catch him looking at her. "What?"

Danny smirked. "What? Can't a man look at his girl?"

Cory blushed and ducked her head. "I'm your girl?"

Danny nodded. "You bet. I really like you, Cory," he said, his tone husky. Then he tugged on their hands and pulled her in for a kiss.

Cory groaned at the feeling of his lips on hers. The kiss brought the promises of things to come. She knew that she wasn't quite ready to sleep with him yet, but the kiss managed to let her know that she was missing out.

Finally they broke apart, both breathing rather erratically. Cory saw the question in his eyes and answered regretfully, "I'm not ready for that yet."

Danny nodded his understanding. "How about we go and sit on the beach for a while?"

Cory looked down at her watch and realized that it was almost nine o'clock. "As much as I'd love to, I've got to be at work early tomorrow. I need to go home."

"That's okay. We'll definitely come back," Danny said, beginning to lead her away from the sites.

An hour later, they were back at Cory's apartment building. Danny insisted on walking her up. Cory, touched by the gallant gesture, didn't protest. Laughing, they stepped off the elevator and Cory felt the hair rise on the back of her neck. Worried, she glanced at her apartment door, only to find it ajar.

Danny followed her alarmed gaze and noticed the door as well. Quickly, he got out his cell phone and called Mac.

"_Taylor."_

"Mac, it's Danny. Cory's apartment has been broken into. Can you send someone over?"

"_Hers, too? I'll grab Stella, Lindsay and Angell and be there in twenty. What's the address?"_

Danny gave Mac the address. "Mac's on his way," he said unnecessarily.

Cory shook her head, her rage rising. "Okay. I'm going in."

Danny put his hand on her arm to stop her. "Wait for backup."

Cory shook her head and turned her rage filled eyes upon him. "Danny, I am a fully trained FBI agent. I don't need backup," she growled as she shook his hand off her arm.

Danny just nodded his head and followed her into the apartment to find chaos. Every piece of furniture was overturned, books pulled off the shelves and her couch cushions opened up. "What the hell?" he murmured softly.

Quickly, Cory walked to her front closet, where she kept her guns. She opened the door and was relived to find them untouched. "Well, they weren't after weapons," she said as she grabbed her Glock and passed a Smith and Wesson to Danny.

Together, they walked through the rest of the apartment, using the standard entering procedure. When they were satisfied that no one was there, Cory took stock of the chaos surrounding her.

She didn't see anything missing, her laptop was still safe, so she was confused to why her apartment was hit. She was just about to comment on that fact when Angell, Mac, Stella, and Lindsay arrived.

Angell immediately went to Cory, who was still holding her gun. "Anything missing?"

Cory shook her head. "Not that I can tell," she said.

Angell wrote something in her notepad. "Strange. This looks just like Taylor's place," she murmured to herself.

Cory heard her. "What do you mean?"

Angell looked up. "Taylor's place was hit today, too. Looked like this."

Cory frowned, grimly, an idea forming in her head.

**~G~H~**

Carmen was still laughing as they left the lights of the theatre.

"I swear that man is the funniest guy alive. I can't believe you managed to get tickets for him." She said to Flack who walked along side her grinning, sipping some of his smoothie out of the cardboard mug. Carmen was enthralled in doing the same. She poked at the bottom of the cup with her straw. "And who knew the theater did such fantastic smoothies?" she sighed happily.

They both paused as they came to the main road. Flack turned to her still sucking the strawberry smoothie through his straw.

"So you can have fun outside the crime lab then?" he remarked.

"About as much as you have outside the police station." She retorted punching him in the arm.

"Ouch princess, I'm going to have to arrest you for man beating if you keep that up."

Carmen rolled her eyes. "Man beating…" she sniggered.

Flack raised his eyebrows. "I don't want to become one of those guys who allows himself to become a victim of domestic abuse." He laughed as she moved to punch him in the arm again, catching her hand and bringing it to meet his lips before releasing it again. "It was a nice try Princess." He smiled at the stunned look on her face, before entwining his fingers with hers whilst they continued walking. Carmen's heart was beating hard in her chest.

"Erm Flack…" she murmured pulling him to a halt. He frowned for a second studying her face. They both opened their mouths to say something at the same time.

"I don't…"

"I really like you…"

Embarrassed Carmen bowed her head, as Don rubbed the back of his.

"Do you want to…you know, go first?" he offered looking away from her gaze. Carmen watched him for a second, feeling awkward before beginning to talk.

"Should we be doing this?" she asked. "I mean it's only been a month since you and Taylor broke up, and I guess I… well… I don't want to risk upsetting her if this is going to be a rebound thing for you." Carmen crossed her arms over her chest.

Flack blinked at her for a second, his own arms crossed over his chest.

"I can promise you it's not a rebound thing. When me and Taylor broke up… You know, she thought it was a difference of opinion, but I couldn't completely relax around her, I just felt restless all the time and I couldn't really settle into the relationship. Here with you though…I've never felt I could be myself around someone else so much." He paused before fixing her with his startling blue eyes; he put his hands on Carmen's arms gently stroking her skin through her top.

"I don't want you to put your friendship with Taylor at risk but seriously, I really like you and I'd like you to give us a chance, you know, to see what happens." Carmen was staring at him now unable to find the words to reflect how she felt. Instead she leant forward and kissed him gently. Flack returned the kiss softly before sliding his arm around her shoulders.

"Do you mind if we stop by my apartment? I just need to grab something before we head out again; I promise it won't make us late for our reservations," he said. Carmen grinned at him, nodding.

"Do you mind waiting in the lobby, my place is a mess at the moment, Danny and Hawkes were over last night and they don't clean up." He laughed, grabbing the door handle and holding it open for her. She passed through turning her head to call back at him.

"Bet you I've seen worse." She said pointedly. He leaned in close to her face, his lips skimming hers briefly.

"You haven't seen mine." He pointed out. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and brushed against him.

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours." She teased, murmuring into his ear.

"You will be the death of me woman." He moaned, pulling back reluctantly and proceeding to the elevators.

"Two minutes." he promised as the doors shut in front of him.

**~G~H~**

Two minutes turned into five, and after ten Carmen was checking her watch and patrolling the lobby like a caged animal. After fifteen she was in the elevator and climbing towards Flack's floor.

She trod softly along the corridor to Flack's apartment, upon reaching the door, she pushed it gently as it was already ajar.

"Flack…" she called before pushing it open fully. For a second, her thoughts went to Danny and Hawkes who really had made a mess of the place, until she saw Flack's body sprawled across the kitchen floor, blood matting his dark hair. Carmen was at his side immediately her cell phone dialing 911.

"This is Detective Devine; I need an ambulance immediately to the residence of Detective Donald Flack." She crouched by him grabbing a tea towel that had been thrown on the floor and pressed it to his still bleeding wound. Her fingers went to his throat searching for his pulse. It was strong. It was possible he'd only have a concussion; her eyes went around the room taking everything in.

Had Flack interrupted a burglary in progress at his own home? The couch was overturned as was the kitchen table. All the drawers in the kitchen were yanked out and cutlery strewn across the floor. Every single book was torn off the shelf and littered the floor.

Carmen turned her attention back to Flack, whose head was still bleeding freely. She put more pressure on the wound before calling the first person who sprung to mind.

**~G~H~**

Taylor was sitting in Angell's window seat, staring through the glass though not really focusing on anything, when the detective returned home from work.

She flicked the light on and caught Taylor blink in the brightness, causing herself to jump, "Taylor? I thought you would have made yourself comfortable?"

Taylor turned her head and stared blankly at Jennifer.

Jennifer sighed and walked over to the cupboard and pulled out some Southern Comfort, grabbed some glasses and a couple of cans of Sprite and joined Taylor at the window. She poured some of the amber alcohol into one of the tumblers and handed it over. "I'll let you decide how much Spri-" she stopped when Taylor threw the liquid down her throat. "Right," she raised her eyebrows and refilled Taylor's glass.

"You ever have one of those days that never seem to end?" Taylor asked her, this time sipping the Southern Comfort.

Angell nodded, "yeah."

"Well, this is the fortnight that would never end," Taylor sighed.

Angell bit her lip, "what happened on your holiday?"

"Got held up at a bank," Taylor told her dryly, taking a large mouthful of her drink. "Bank manager got shot, and pretty much died in my arms. And _then_ my luggage goes missing," she frowned. "That may be a blessing in disguise, when I _eventually_ get my cases back from Iceland, because as it stands, I don't have any clothes."

"Come on," said Angell, getting to her feet and grabbing Taylor's spare hand, "let's get you some clean clothes." She stopped pulling when she saw Taylor wince. "What's the matter?" Angell glanced down, noticing that Taylor was hiding her hand. She grabbed it and pulled it towards her, "Christ, Taylor, what did you do?"

Taylor snatched her hand away, "I cut it on something in my apartment."

Angell rolled her eyes, "right, first thing's first. That's getting seen to, and then you can have a shower and change into something else."

Taylor nodded glumly and allowed the detective to pull her over to the kitchen and seat her at her breakfast bar. She produced a first aid kit and rummaged around in it, before pouring some disinfectant onto a piece of gauze and started to clean it.

"Ow," Taylor winced.

"Sorry,' Angell murmured, staring intently at the cut. "Taylor, you have glass in this."

Taylor shrugged at her.

Angell sighed and searched through her first aid kit, "shit," she cursed, "I have no tweezers." She looked up at the forlorn journalist, "okay, this is not the most hygienic thing in the world, but that glass has to come out."

Taylor stared at her, "what are you going to do?" The next thing she knew, Angell was pressing the palm of her hand against her mouth and was gently sucking the glass out. Taylor stared at her, wondering why something so… technically, gross, was making the heat rise to her face. And why on earth the action was making her think of her housemate?

"Got it," Angell told her, pulling a small shard of glass from her mouth and putting it on the side, before returning her attention to cleaning and dressing the wound.

Taylor took another mouthful of her drink, hoping they would quell the butterflies that had found their way into her stomach.

"All done," Angell smiled at her, "time to get you out of those clothes."

Taylor's eyes widened as Angell led her to the bedroom. She'd heard comments like that from Marty all the time, but somehow it didn't seem right coming from Angell. And for some reason, she wanted to hear them from Marty.

"The only bathroom I have in this place is en-suite. Great for me, not so much for guests," Angell explained as she pointed at one of the doors, not noticing Taylor's startled look.

Taylor quickly swallowed the rest of her drink, and muttered her thanks, all but dashing into the bathroom where she quickly stripped off and dove under the hot water. "What the hell was that about?" she asked herself, leaning her head against the cool of the tiles. "_Marty?_" She turned the temperature of the water right down. When she got out, a while later, she found that Angell must have been in, because there was a pile of freshly laundered clothes waiting for her on the side.

She wandered over and looked at them. Clean underwear, which was slightly fancy, in her opinion, and a cream velour sweat suit. She pulled them on and towel-dried her hair.

"They fit pretty well," Angell smiled as Taylor returned to the living room. She held up a fresh class of Southern Comfort, "the underwear is new, by the way. So don't worry about that."

Taylor nodded and sat beside her on the couch, taking the glass from her.

"I know you're having a rough time," Angell told her, laying a hand on Taylor's thigh, "but you can have my couch for as long as you need."

Taylor stared at the hand, wondering why there was so much heat radiating from it. And why on earth those blasted butterflies were back. "Jennifer," she started, meeting Angell's gaze. And then her cell phone rang. She leant over and grabbed it from the side, as Angell quickly withdrew her hand. "Taylor."

"_Taylor, it's Carmen. I, uh, I'm at the hospital. It's Flack."_

Taylor felt something large plummet to the pit of her stomach.

**~G~H~**

**AN:** _Okay guys! Please tell us what you think…We will take suggestions under consideration!_

_Miss Wizard of Oz – (Sparky) Did you get some sleep? And Thanks! (Aph) lol I have days where I nearly pass out at the keyboard, I think today is one of them. (Axel) I wish I could do the same – but it's about time we put a new chapter up, and I'm the last to add! Hope you liked this chapter!_

_Demolished-Soul – (Sparky) You're welcome. (grinning evilly) I'm not telling! (Aph) lol I was going to say it would spoil the story if we told you. Thanks for the review! (Axel) I'll tell you! So, the USB thing is actually an alien life force, masquerading as a USB, but it's really here to find the Cube and return Megatron to his former self… wait… this one's been done… damn._

_Madison – (Sparky) Yeah! I'm glad it gave you chills…That's what it was supposed to do! I think they came together since the 3 of us beta each other's stories, so we know the characters pretty well! (Aph) lol it gave me chills! We're pretty much in each other's heads most of the time, so we know what works with each character. Thanks for the review! (Axel) Well, I think the other two responded to that pretty well. We're also coming to the conclusion that our muses may well be related too!_

_The Corrupter – (Sparky) Wow! Okay, so I picture Cory as Kate Beckinsale in Van Helsing with red hair, but I agree, she is very authorative. Cory is from Dallas, Texas but she speaks fluent French and no she doesn't help the dead, she just gets dreams of the future. We will definitely take your critique into consideration! (Aph) First off, well done on reviewing all those chapters, and thank you for your input. Lol Carmen is a lot older than Marrisa in the OC, but there hair's the same kind of thing. The reason Flack keeps calling her Princess is due to the fact he does in my story (Simply Devine)It starts off because she's being dumb and he calls her it to irritate her, because he feels that's what she's acting like, but the nickname sticks through the story and becomes an affectionate thing. You should try writing! Thank you for the crit! (Axel) I have come to the conclusion that you are a very, very crazy girl! Did you review, what, 40 chapters this weekend? Wow – thanks for the dedication! I know you like that pairing, but I think you'll be happy with the change. Besides, I get to play around with the character. I may just pair her with Mac and call her Taylor Taylor! I hope you continue to enjoy this story!_


	9. Boiling Point

**Gotham's Heroes is a collective story from SparkyCSI, Aphina and Axellia (please read the author bio for further information). **

**Whilst we own our OC's, even when we combine our savings, we are not even close to owning a percentage of CSI: NY - so don't sue us!**

**Gotham's Heroes**

**Chapter 9. Boiling Point**

The hospital room was silent aside from the dull and steady beep echoing through the room. Carmen was sitting in the chair next to Don's bed, clutching his hand gently and watching his face as he slept. A thick pad was taped to the back of his head covering the wound. It was shallow. He only had a slight concussion but the doctors had decided to keep him overnight for observation. She saw his eyelids flutter for a second, before his eyes opened completely for the second time tonight.

"Hey, you're still here," he murmured turning his head towards Carmen, the meds they'd given him made him drowsy and groggy. He squeezed her hand a little, she squeezed it back.

"Of course I am, couldn't leave you alone with all these cute nurses." Carmen grinned; Flack gave her a tiny smile.

"You look exhausted," he pointed out, his eyes studying her face. She gave him a grim pout. "Don't look at me like that, you need to get some sleep, I'll be fine here," he said reassuring her. He caught the look on her face. "At least go get something to eat…I get out tomorrow. You can mother me then." Flack joked.

Carmen stood up, swinging her bag onto her shoulder. "Are you sure?" she asked smoothing the dark hair away form his face, before leaning in close so their lips were inches apart.

Flack lifted his hand, resting it gently on the back of her neck and stroking her hair. "I want you to go home and get some rest Miss Devine, otherwise you're going to be explaining to me tomorrow why you're too tired to laugh at my jokes."

Carmen giggled. "Never," she replied before he pulled her closer so his lips brushed hers tenderly.

He pulled away gently. "Now go get some sleep." He murmured serenely, tipping his head back, and closing his eyes.

"Sweet dreams," she whispered, her lips caressing his forehead before she returned to her seat and settled down for the night.

**~G~H~**

Cory finally arrived at the hospital, Danny hot on her heels – Danny had had a somewhat cryptic call from Carmen asking him to get to the hospital because Flack had been attacked. She and Danny had just made it to the door when Taylor skidded to a halt behind them.

"Oh my God, where is he? What happened?" she asked them frantically.

Danny wrapped his arms around her. "Hey, this is Flack we're talking about. You can't even blow him up!"

Taylor stepped back and nodded, wiping away the tears that were lining her eyes. "You're right," she nodded, trying to put on a brave face.

"Come on," said Cory gently, leading her to the door. Cory stopped suddenly when she looked through the door's window and saw Carmen sitting at Flack's bedside, holding his hand. She took a step backwards, hoping that the movement was enough to distract Taylor as Carmen was now gently stroking Flack's face.

It didn't work. "What the hell?" Taylor choked.

"What's the problem?" Danny asked, opening the door, clearly not having seen what had happened.

Carmen looked up at the commotion at the door and leapt away from Flack as if he had suddenly spontaneously combusted.

"What happened?" Danny asked, not picking up on the icy atmosphere that had suddenly rushed into the hospital room.

Carmen sighed. "I'm not really sure. I think that Flack interrupted a burglary in progress at his place. I found him lying on his kitchen floor, surrounded by blood." Carmen shuddered at the memory.

Taylor frowned, picking up on the fact that Carmen had been at Flack's apartment. Suddenly, a light went on her head on why she couldn't get a hold of Flack when her place had been broken into. "Is he okay?" she asked softly.

Carmen glanced down at the sleeping detective, then back to his ex. She nodded, "He has a little concussion. They're keeping him overnight."

Taylor watched her – there was clearly something between the two – and inhaled deeply. She nodded, turned and walked out of the room.

Carmen looked over at Cory who glared at her. "What?" she asked the FBI agent.

Cory's eyes widened in disbelief. "You've gotta be kidding me! Hello? She just found out about you and Flack."

The color drained from Carmen's face. "Crap," she muttered, dashing out of the room, hoping to catch up with Taylor.

Danny turned to Cory and frowned. "Why do I feel like I have completely missed something?"

Cory walked over and patted him on the head. "It's alright. I'll fill you in on the details later."

**~G~H~**

Carmen hurried down the corridor, wondering where the hell Taylor could have possibly disappeared to in such a short space of time. She found her outside, just by the ambulance bay, pacing back and forth with her arms folded tightly under her breasts. "Hey Taylor, I was looking all over for you."

Taylor shot her a glare and glanced at her watch. She had called Angell and was waiting for her to pick her up.

Carmen sighed. "Maybe we should talk."

Taylor stopped pacing and arched an eyebrow.

Carmen stepped forward. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean you to find out this way," she said as she tried to touch Taylor's arm.

Taylor stepped back and jerked her arm out of the way. "Did you mean for me to find out at all?" she cried angrily.

Carmen looked down at the floor, "I was going to tell you… I just wanted to make sure it wasn't a fling." She sighed. "I didn't see the point in upsetting you for no reason."

Taylor narrowed her eyes. "So it would have been alright to hide a fling from me?"

Carmen took a step back, surprised at the venom in Taylor's voice. "If he wanted a fling, I would have backed straight off," she held her hands out in defense. "It wasn't like we planned it – it just happened – and it's not like I haven't been thinking about the right time to tell you. I was planning on telling you today. And then you sprung that ghost thing on us."

Taylor's mouth dropped open. "That _ghost thing_ is really important to me. So sorry for _springing it on you_. And this is _Don_ we're talking about. He doesn't _do_ flings." She stuck her hands on hips. "And even if he did, it would have been nice not to find out like this."

Carmen crossed her arms over her chest and glared up at the woman towering above her. "I am seriously sorry, but it's not just me that's done something wrong here. If you and Don were on better terms maybe he would have told you. The truth is Taylor, I really like him and he really likes me, and something is going to happen there whether you like it or not. I know it's gonna be hard to deal with but I can't keep saying sorry."

"You have no right knowing what terms Don and I are on," Taylor spat at her. It had been a very long time since she had been this mad. "And you're right - you can't keep saying sorry, because it's never going to be enough!"

Carmen shook her head angrily. "You're kidding me, right? You're gonna throw our friendship away because I didn't tell you about this? This is part of my private life to you know, and you have no right to be mad,' Carmen fumed. "You broke it off with him! What's the real reason you're so worked up about this, would it be the same if he was dating someone else?"

Taylor took a step closer; her brown eyes were practically black with anger. "You don't know anything about what happened between me and Don, so don't even begin to kid yourself that you do. I have every right to be mad! You were sneaking around behind my back!" Taylor was furious, so much so, that she didn't even care that people were staring at the shouting.

"Sneaking around behind your back?" Carmen roared. "It was a date or two, and he kissed _me_." Like Taylor, Carmen was also oblivious to the crowds they were beginning to attract. "Maybe if you bothered to explain what really happened I'd understand why you are yelling at me in a hospital parking lot!"

"Maybe _you_ should have come to ask _me_, first!"

Carmen scoffed at her. "And what would I have done if you'd said no out of spite?"

Taylor scowled, and then she slapped Carmen. "You're a manipulative bitch!"

Carmen's hand flew to her lip as she tasted the coppery flavor of blood seep into her mouth where Taylor's ring had caught her lip. "Is that how you really feel about it?" she murmured quietly, hurt more over the argument then the violence.

"Our 'friendship' was built on lies," Taylor responded coldly, an empty feeling taking over her. "That's not a friendship."

"You're the one who built it," Carmen told her. "I never lied about Flack, and I never lied about my feelings towards him. If you'd asked, I would have told you everything."

"You never lied?" Taylor shrieked, the tone of her voice masking the hurt she was feeling. "You hid it. That's lying by omission. God, you're supposed to be a frickin' cop!"

Carmen laughed coldly. "You weren't the least bit interested in where I was going or who with, and you're blaming this whole thing on me?"

Taylor's mouth dropped open. "Well, excuuuuse me for seeing the dead. I've been a little preoccupied with seeing a walking bullet wound 24/7!"

"That's part of your life," Carmen told her. "You think I walk around constantly preoccupied with every crime that I see, day in and day out? No, I can see what's going on with my friends and I stick by them. That's more than you're doing right now! One's in hospital with a serious concussion, and you're yelling at the other one in the parking lot. Real frigging mature." She stomped her foot in frustration. "I think the only reason you've pulled your head out of your ass is because you've seen something you don't like! What were you expecting, Taylor? To rush back in there and he'd accept you with open arms? He's moved on, and I think it's time that you should too."

Taylor narrowed her eyes. "For the record, I've tried to call Don several times over the past week, and he's not answered. I think I know why now." She took a step closer, closing the gap between them so that her 5'10" frame was towering above Carmen. "I went into that hospital wondering what the hell the person I love was doing in there! The reason is standing right in front of me," she fumed, shoving Carmen. "You're doing a real good job of seeing what's going on with your friends"

Carmen shoved her back. "You're one to talk! I didn't put him in the hospital. If anything, I saved his life when he was lying bleeding on that floor, so don't," she shouted back, just as furious as she shoved Taylor again, "you dare say," she shoved the journalist again, "this is my fault!"

Something inside of Taylor snapped. She pulled back her fist and slammed it into Carmen's face.

Carmen didn't fall back however – it was like she had taken on some super-human strength as the anger coursed through her. She turned her head back to face Taylor, oblivious to the pain and pulled her own fist back.

That was when Danny's hands wrapped around her arm, preventing it from moving. At the same time, Angell appeared out of nowhere, pulling Taylor away from Carmen.

"What the _hell_ is going on here?" Cory bellowed, looking between to two women who were being restrained.

Taylor yanked herself free from Angell and glared at Carmen. "You're not even worth it,' she muttered under her breath before she ran a hand through her hair, and turned on her heel and stormed away.

Angell's eyes widened in confusion as she shrugged at Cory and dashed off after Taylor.

Cory rounded on Carmen. "You wanna tell me why you have a bruise in the shape of Taylor's fist forming on your cheek?"

Danny looked between the two women, "I think this is my cue to leave."

Cory nodded gratefully. He gave her a quick kiss and hurried away, leaving at the two women staring at each other.

"Well?" Cory demanded.

**~G~H~**

**AN:**

_Meadow567 – (Axellia) Trust me when I say we have played about with that chapter so much. Taylor's confused. And sadly, Angell happens to be there as she trying to work out what it is she's feeling.(Aph) lol we were as confused as you were over the Tay thing and kept changing our minds. It's all connected, you'll just have to see how later on. (Sparky) Trust me, we were just as confused as you! But it all becomes clear in the end. Thanks for the review!_

_demolished-soul – (Axellia) Well, we were gonna pair them together. Then we decided against it. Taylor's just confused – she's trying to work out who it is she has feelings for. (Aph) I think all your q's to do with Tay and Carmen have been answered in this chapter. We had immense fun writing it. (Sparky) Yeah…She didn't actually come clean, but Taylor does find out! I loved the fight between Tay and Carmen in this chapter. It was fun. (lol)_


	10. Act First, Think Later

**Gotham's Heroes is a collective story from SparkyCSI, Aphina and Axellia (please read the author bio for further information). **

**Whilst we own our OC's, even when we combine our savings, we are not even close to owning a percentage of CSI: NY - so don't sue us!**

**Gotham's Heroes**

**AN:**_ Okay. First of All we very much apologize for the long delay! Real life kinda intruded on all of us and as a result, this story go pushed back a bit! We can promise that we will try to update sooner! As always, unless we won a lotto, then there is no chance of any of the 3 of us owning any part of CSI: NY. We just own our OC's!_

**Chapter 10. Act First, Think Later**

"Well?" Cory asked.

"Well, what?" spat Carmen.

Cory sighed, praying for patience. "What the hell just happened? Why in the world were you two fighting like a pair of common thugs?"

Carmen exhaled. "Just leave it, Cory. I'm not in the mood."

Cory stamped down her frustration as Carmen walked away from her. She ran to catch up with her and grabbed her arm. "Oh, no. You're not getting out of this that easily. I warned you, Carmen. I told you that you should tell Taylor about you and Flack. Did you listen to me? No. Look where it's gotten you."

Carmen turned around, facing Cory. "Why am I the bad guy here? She hit me."

Cory rolled her eyes. "Carmen, just tell me what happened. Please."

Carmen finally relented. "She was upset because of Don. She was pissed that I didn't tell her about me and him and then she just flew off the handle!"

Cory nodded, a realization dawning in her head. She shut her eyes briefly then opened them to see a lingering crowd. "Let's go back to my place. I think we need to have a heart-to-heart."

**~G~H~**

Cory didn't remember until they were riding on the elevator up to her apartment that it was still in shambles. Mac had given her the okay to start cleaning it up, but her and Danny had only made a start to the mess when they had gotten the call about Flack. "Shit," she muttered.

Carmen looked at her. "What?"

Cory sighed and shook her head. "I just forgot that my place is a wreck."

Carmen looked at her in confusion. "So? I've seen worse."

Cory exhaled again. "Not like this, well maybe like this. My apartment was broken into. It's utter chaos."

Carmen drew her brows together. "What!" she exclaimed.

"That's part of what we need to talk about," Cory said as they exited the elevator. They walked up to her door, which still had crime tape on it. As soon as they were inside, Carmen looked around in astonishment.

"This looks like a hurricane blew threw it. What was stolen?"

Cory shrugged as she put the cushions back on the couch, so they could have a place to sit. "That's just it. Nothing. But more about that later. We need to talk about you and Taylor now. How exactly did the argument escalate to the point of violence?"

"I don't know! I went outside to apologize to her from not telling her about me and Don and she lost it. She blamed me for him getting hurt and then she called me a manipulative bitch."

Cory raised her eyebrows. "I can see her point of view. I told you that you needed to tell her. Do you know why?" At Carmen's shake of the head she continued, "Because I don't think that she is completely over him." She raised her hand to stave off Carmen's objection. "I know that she broke it off with him, but she still has major feelings."

"But…" Carmen trailed off in her confusion.

"Carmen. Put yourself in her shoes. How would you feel if you just found out that one of your friends is dating your ex-boyfriend and she hid it from you?"

Carmen closed her eyes in self loathing at the pain that her selfish actions had caused Taylor. "Shit. I've really screwed this up, haven't I?"

"That's an understatement. You need to ask yourself this question. Who is more important to you? Don or Taylor?"

Carmen felt indignation at Cory's statement. "Why do I have to choose between them? That's not fair!"

Cory raised her eyebrows. "Honey, life ain't fair. Deal with it and move on. I know that you said that you didn't want to hurt her if it was just a fling, but you've known that it wasn't a fling. So why did you keep this from her? Were you afraid that she would object?"

Carmen lowered her head, refusing to meet Cory's gaze. "I don't know."

Cory just shook her head. "I don't buy that. I think you know, but you just don't want to admit the truth to yourself."

Carmen looked down at her hands, feeling horrible for the pain that she had caused.

Cory watched her reaction and knew that she had gotten through to her on some level. She decided to change the subject. "So, the state of my apartment."

Carmen looked at her, relief in her eyes. "So, what happened?"

"Danny and I came home from Coney Island and it was like this. Here's what I'm thinking. Jennifer let it slip that Taylor's place was broken into as well. What if our luggage going missing wasn't just bad luck? What if VSPA was trying to get the flash drive back?"

Carmen's eyes widened at the implication. "Oh, God. That means that my place was probably broken in to as well."

Carmen leapt up from the couch and made her way to the door, intent on finding out if her place had been hit.

**~G~H~**

Carmen thrust some bills into the cab driver's hand, leapt out and dashed into her building, up to her apartment. When she had unlocked her door to enter her untouched apartment, she let out a laugh in relief. Her mind had been all over the place in the cab ride home, it was finally happy to register on one thing that still made sense.

Carmen paused in the hallway looking into the mirror, and touched the side of her face tenderly, it was already swollen, and patches of dark bruising were beginning to show. Her lip didn't look much better, Taylor's ring had cut it, and she could still taste the blood.

She pulled out her cell phone and quickly called Cory to let her know her apartment hadn't been searched, then flopped backwards onto her bed, letting out another laugh. Today had been truly awful and her apartment being turned over would have topped it off.

She lay there for a while until her mind took over again, replaying the evening over and over, until, frustrated, she padded into the bathroom and ran a bath. She sank into it, taking a breath and sinking under the water. When she came up for air, her mind was a little clearer.

Taylor had over-reacted – there was no doubt about that – but the reaction _had_ been her fault. Cory had been right about that. She needed to talk. To Taylor, and to Flack. Things couldn't continue like this. The question Cory asked her replayed in her mind _Who is more important to you? Don or Taylor?_

**~G~H~**

Over in Brooklyn, in Angell's apartment, Taylor was back at the window, glaring out at the city as she steadily drank through the bottle of Southern Comfort.

Finally, from her position leaning against the counter, Angell pushed herself away and walked over to the fuming woman, sitting on the sill in front of her. "Where'd you learn to punch?"

Taylor took a sip of her drink and looked down, "Navy brat. My dad and brother are in the Navy, and I spent my Monday afternoons learning to fight," she sighed. "Well, my brother taught me to fight after school, but it's no better than bar fighting. It's not a discipline or anything."

"I'm surprised you didn't knock Carmen's head off."

Taylor shrugged. "If you hadn't have pulled me off her, I probably would have."

Angell frowned, "Taylor, I think you should actually be concerned that you're disappointed you were pulled off her."

Taylor glared at her. "Concerned? Right now I want to get a knife and stick her in the back like she did me."

Angell leant back, holding her hands up. "Where's all this venom coming from, and what have I done to have it directed at me?"

"Nothing," Taylor admitted, walking to the couch and slumping down on it. "You've done nothing," she repeated.

"Well, what did Carmen do?" she asked hesitantly, bracing herself for the glass she was sure was going to be launched at her.

It didn't come.

"You know where she was this evening?"

Angell blinked. "No?"

"With Don."

"And that's a problem, why?"

Taylor scowled into her glass, not answering.

Angell moved over to the opposite end of the couch and faced Taylor, bringing her legs up under her. "I take it there's a history between you and Don?"

Taylor continued to stare stonily into her glass, but nodded.

"Well I guess you're not exactly going to share with me the ins and outs of it, but Taylor, you're not seeing him anymore."

"I know that," Taylor confirmed, her voice strained.

"So why the hell did you hit Carmen?"

Taylor sank further into her chair as the beer tears began to fall. "I don't know. I was scared, and angry, and hurt, and… and she was there, and all these feelings came bubbling up and she just got on the receiving end of it, and oh God, I'm a horrible, horrible bitch," she babbled.

Angell scooted over and pried the now empty glass out of her hand, placing it on the side. "You're not a horrible person."

"I am. I hit my friend. Twice!"

Angell arched her eyebrows but said nothing.

"She's never going to want to speak to me again," she wailed.

Angell sighed and wrapped and arm around her shoulder, pulling her to her, "So do you want to speak to her again?"

"I don't know," she sobbed into Angell's top. "I'm so mad at her for what she did. And I'm mad at Don too. But he's in a hospital and you're not allowed to be mad with people in hospital." There was something else she wasn't admitting out loud either. The fact that she was mad at herself because the man she _loved _was lying in a hospital and all she could think about was someone else.

Angell pulled her tighter as she cried into her, making the appropriate shushing noises as she stroked her hair.

"Thank you," Taylor muttered finally.

Angell glanced down. "For what?"

"For letting me stay here, after everything."

"Any time," she told her softly, pulling the blanket down from the back of the couch and throwing it over Taylor.

Taylor sat upright, "What are you doing?"

"Letting you get some sleep. You're going to feel like crap tomorrow," she informed her, looking over at the bottle of Southern Comfort that was now standing virtually empty.

Taylor laughed bitterly. "I don't get hangovers, but I don't remember anything either. Why do you think I drank so much?"

Angell sighed. "Whether you remember it or not, you're going to have to work out what you want, and soon. Before someone else gets hurt."

Taylor stared at the detective. Somehow, the person she saw staring back wasn't the attractive female detective, but an attractive medical examiner. She must have drunk a lot, because… she leant forward and pressed her lips against Angell's. And then Angell was kissing her back. Taylor pulled back. Had she been sober enough, she'd have been wondering when she became the type to act first, think later – even if it was some form of misplaced affection. Had she been sober, she would have also realized she had been doing a lot of that recently – acting first and thinking later. Instead, she smiled, pulled the blanket over her, and lay down, asleep in seconds, her dreams plagued with Porches, ghosts and cats.

Angell got to her feet and walked over to her bedroom door. She turned the light of then looked back at Taylor in the light from her bedroom and sighed. "Maybe it's already to late for that," she sighed, closing the door.

**~G~H~**

**AN:**

_meadow567 – (Ax) Why, thank you! (Aph) I'm glad you liked it, we had fun doing it! (Sparky) I'm happy that you liked it!_

_demolished-soul – (Ax) I'm still in two minds as to who she should end up with. It was originally going to be with Angell! (Aph) lol Which would have been controversial reading. Lol The whole Physical violence thing came out of nowhere, we were having trouble writing a fight so we decided to play it out and then Pow! Tay's hit Carmen and their being restrained, so we had to use it. It was great fun though. (Sparky) I wish I could say that I was part of that IM convo, it sounded like so much fun!_

_Madison Bellows – (Ax) Aphina and I IMed the convo – it was mucho fun, so I'm glad you enjoyed reading it as much as we enjoyed writing it!(Aph)That's the best part of co writing some times, the stuff that surprises you. Lol you have plenty to look forward to if I remember correctly. (Sparky) Oh, it surely going to get interesting! I love where we are going with this!_

**AN:**_ Okay guys...See that little button below that says Submit Review? Our muses would be very grateful if you did! _


	11. Angels and Demons

**Gotham's Heroes is a collective story from SparkyCSI, Aphina and Axellia (please read the author bio for further information). **

**Whilst we own our OC's, even when we combine our savings, we are not even close to owning a percentage of CSI: NY - so don't sue us!**

**Gotham's Heroes**

**Chapter 11. Angels and Demons**

Carmen yawned as she stepped out onto the street, trying to stifle it as she walked. She'd spent the whole night tossing and turning, unable to sleep because she'd been worrying about the argument she'd had with Taylor. She couldn't seem to get Cory's question out of her mind.

Who was more important Flack or Taylor?

It was true that she was falling for Flack. She enjoyed being with him and in turn he made her feel things she'd never felt before. But her friendship with Taylor was important too, the other girl had confessed her incredible secret to them, which had to count for something.

Carmen rubbed her eyes, pausing for a second and sighing.

Maybe the thing with Flack had come too soon after all, Taylor and Don had only broken up just over a month ago. If Don wanted to be with her as much as she thought he did, then he'd wait.

Carmen's bag slipped off her shoulder, as she rooted in it, checking for the cash she had in it. She'd decided a bit of retail therapy was in order considering the past couple of weeks she'd had. Also their suitcases had not been returned yet, and she needed some new clothes.

Carmen didn't realize something was wrong until she felt someone knock into her and realized that the bag was missing from her hands.

"Son of a…" she yelled before giving chase to the would-be bag snatcher. That bag contained her life: her purse, credit cards, keys, badge and cell phone were in it.

She saw the mugger dart into an alleyway between two buildings, obviously hoping to lose her. She rolled her eyes; criminals definitely did not get smarter. Carmen bolted into the alley as the mugger sifted through the contents. She opened her mouth to shout as she felt an arm encircle her throat, cutting off her air supply. Her hands wrestled with the arm, trying to pry it free of her neck as the mugger chucked her bag onto the ground. He was facing her now, she was surprised at the fact he looked so young.

"_No está aquí_," he muttered to the man holding her.

"_Entonces donde puede ser?_"

Carmen gathered he was asking the other man a question by the tone of his voice. She was still struggling against his arm.

"_Pregúntele!_"

The moment her throat was released Carmen tried to fight, unfortunately the man behind her grabbed hold of her hair and pushed her against the brick wall before turning her to face him. His hand went to her throat pinning her to it.

"Where is it?" he demanded.

Carmen met his furious gaze with one of her own. "I don't know what your talking ab…" The punch seemingly came out of nowhere, driving into her stomach. The breath rushed out of her. Her body instinctively doubled over, yet she was dragged back up to the standing position by the roots of her hair.

"American women are so pretty…" the mugger's partner brushed his fingers over her cheek.

Carmen clenched her jaw.

"Yet very stupid." He punched her again in the same place, making her choke as she scrambled for air. The pain in her stomach was immense, as she was dragged back up once again. "I can keep doing this little girl, but it will be come very painful for you and very tiresome for me." He hit her again, driving his fist into her ribs this time. Carmen's knees buckled as the pain brought a wave of blackness into her vision. She found herself on her knees in front of her attacker.

He cupped her chin tightly in his fingers bring her head up to meet his loathsome eyes. "Where is it?" he hissed.

Carmen was gasping, attempting to get her breath back. She ground her teeth against the pain that was settling in her chest and abdomen. "I don't know what you're…" The punch to her face made her scream out loud, as it practically turned her head.

"_Páseme el cuchillo_," he muttered to his partner. Carmen's gaze swept upwards as she heard a dull metallic click. Something cold brushed her skin as the attacker forced her head back to meet his eyes. He showed her the knife in his hand.

"I think maybe some work on your pretty face will loosen your tongue; will your boyfriend still like you if it was scarred?" He brought the knife closer to the skin of her cheek bone. Carmen shut her eyes as silent tears escaped them and rolled down her cheeks.

"Maybe you need a wider smile," the man uttered, as she felt the knife caress her skin as it glided closer to her mouth.

There was a loud resounding bang that rattled through the alleyway as a door further up it open and smashed against the wall. Carmen opened her eyes and turned her head slightly as the two Italian attackers did the same.

A large burly man erupted from the building carrying two large bags of rubbish. "What the hell is going on here?" he yelled.

"Help…" something hit her in the side of the head as the words left her mouth, she felt her body topple forward and hit the ground as the darkness took over.

**~G~H~**

The hospital was alive with noise as the ambulance screeched to a halt in front of it, shoving its doors open as the paramedics rushed in a young woman on the gurney.

"What have we got?" asked the doctor swinging into action and walking along side the gurney, his eyes fixed on the patient.

"Jane Doe in her late twenties, found beaten in an alleyway, she's been unconscious since we arrived on the scene," the paramedic barked back at him. The doctor flicked open the woman's eyes lids checking her pupils.

"Any idea how she got in this state?" he asked taking in the bruising, and the blood that matted the woman's hair.

"Attempted mugging, we found her bag near by," the paramedic replied nodding at the handbag the nurse that had now joined them was carrying.

"Right get her into a room and I'll take a look at her. Nurse, check for I.D in the bag she looks like she's in pretty bad shape, we need to know who to call."

The nurse did as she was asked as the doctor began to cut off the young woman's shirt. "No sign of I.D but I found this."

The doctor turned to see her holding up a shiny NYPD badge. "Call the precinct and give them the badge number, find out who she is." The nurse nodded, hearing the seriousness of the situation in the air.

"Nurse," the doctor called out, she stopped and turned.

"I'll need you to send Doctor Harris in." The nurse gave a pertinent nod before going to fulfill her duties.

**~G~H~**

Taylor awoke to the sound of a metal connecting with china. She peeked open an eye and looked around, completely confused as to where she was. She brought her hand up (which had been dangling off the edge of the sofa _she fell asleep on a sofa?) _and used it to push herself into an upright condition. Or at least she tried. Her hand hurt so much she collapse back down, face first, into the couch.

"You alright?" Angell asked her at the sounds of her swearing.

"What the _hell_ did I do to my hand?" Taylor asked her in confusion as she used her other arm to push herself into a seated position.

"Don't you remember?"

"No."

Angell came over and sat opposite her, a cup of coffee in her hand. "You want a mug?"

Taylor shook her head. "I don't drink it." She let out a groan. "When did the alcohol come into it?"

"You feeling a little worse for wear?"

"Not really. I'm just trying to remember what I hit my hand on."

Angell stared at her. "You don't remember anything about last night?"

Taylor shrugged. "I remember getting a phone call that Don was in the hospital." The color fell from her face. "Oh my God, is he alright?"

"He's fine," Angell quickly told her. "He got hit in the head. They kept him in overnight for observation. He'll be out today."

Taylor breathed a sigh of relief. "So why do I look like a Fiddler Crab?"

"A what now?"

Taylor sighed. "A fiddler crab? One claw bigger than the other?" She held her hands up to show Angell how one hand was bright red and slightly swollen.

"You really don't remember?"

Taylor shook her head.

"You hit Carmen,' Angell explained matter-of-factly.

The fight came rushing back to Taylor. "Oh crap," she muttered.

"Yeah, I'm guessing your hand is nothing compared to how her face looks this morning."

Taylor flung herself back into the couch and pulled the pillow over her head. "Kill me now." Her voice came out muffled.

"You can hide out here if you want, but I've got to get to work, so I'll be abandoning you soon."

Taylor peeked out from under the pillow. "No, I should call Carmen. Try to apologize." She hunted out her phone and hit dial, but it went straight to voicemail. "Why doesn't that surprise me," Taylor sighed.

"Look, why don't you get a shower and you can come in with me – find her at the lab. I'm sure she's supposed to be on duty this afternoon."

Taylor nodded and rose to her feet, heading for the bathroom.

"Hey, Taylor?" Angell called after her.

Taylor stopped and turned.

"You don't remember anything else about last night?"

Taylor shook her head, growing worried. "Should I? Please tell me I didn't do something else I should be regretting?"

Angell stared at her and then shook her head. "Nothing on my part," she said softly. "I'll leave some clothes out for you."

Taylor smiled gratefully and walked into the bathroom.

Angell slumped back into the chair and groaned. _What the hell are you doing?_

**~G~H~**

Cory surveyed her apartment when she woke up the next day. The first thing she did was plug her laptop in and log into her FBI email account. She wanted to keep abreast of her cases while she put her apartment back together.

After a couple of hours, she had managed to get the living room and kitchen back to normal. She was taking a quick break, drinking some sweet tea, when she heard her email beep.

Quickly, she walked over to her computer and pulled up the new mail. It was from her Interpol contact, Alistair Murphy. She smiled to herself as she read the information on the screen. _Perfect. This is just what we needed_, she thought. She grabbed her phone and tried to call Carmen, but there was no answer.

Thinking for a moment, she dialed Danny, who told her that Carmen wasn't in yet. He promised to tell her to call as soon as he saw her. Sighing in defeat, she looked around the rest of the apartment and began her cleaning mission again.

**~G~H~**

Mac Taylor was sitting at his desk when the call was finally connected to him. "Taylor."

"Detective Taylor? This is Nurse Auster from Trinity Hospital here… we have reason to believe we have a detective of yours here."

Mac frowned at these words; Flack had been released earlier today.

"We had to go through her bag and came across her badge; I managed to recite the badge number to the main precinct and came up with an I.D for a woman who was brought in with severe injuries. Do you have Detective Carmen Devine currently under your employment?"

Mac felt a wave of ice cold sickness rise within him. "Yes," he answered.

"Badge number 9012?"

"That is correct."

"She was brought in at two pm today with severe injuries to her head and abdomen. It looks as if she's been beaten; the doctors are currently working on her now to gauge the full extent of her injuries."

There was a brisk tapping on the door, interrupting Mac from his phone call. He ushered Stella in. She took a seat frowning at the expression on his face. "Can you inform me of the condition she's in?" Mac asked, twisting in his chair.

"She's currently stable, and under going further examination."

"Thank you. I'll be on my way." He hung up as Stella opened her mouth to speak. "Carmen's been attacked, she's at Trinity being examined."

"What do you need?" Stella rose to her feet as Mac did.

"I need you to stay here and be in charge, you can tell the team, but I need you to make sure they stay focused." Mac grabbed his coat off the rack next to the door.

"Did they say how serious it was?"

Mac shook his head. "As soon as I know you'll know, I'm going to be taking Hawkes with me, could you tell him to go get his kit?"

Stella nodded before pacing out of the room quickly.

**~G~H~**

The hospital was still lively when both Hawkes and Mac stepped through its doors. They were waiting in the lobby as Doctor Harris arrived, holding a bag containing all of Carmen's clothes and various items.

"Colin," Mac said nodding in recognition

"Mac, I wish that we were meeting each other under better circumstances," Doctor Harris replied.

"Can you tell me what state my CSI is in?" Mac questioned as Hawkes took the bag from Doctor Harris. Doctor Harris gestured for them both to follow as he walked through a set of double doors and down a long corridor.

"Carmen Devine appears to have been the victim of a vicious assault. Our paramedics found her in an alley way unconscious." The doctor caught Mac's concerned expression.

"She hasn't woken up yet and probably won't for a while, her body needs time to absorb the shock of the attack," Hawkes continued from the Doctor's explanation.

Doctor Harris smiled in his direction. "Spot on," he remarked. "It appears that she was punched in the stomach and ribs repeatedly, her ribs are bruised, and I'm surprised not broken. She will be in a lot of pain for a few days, so we'll be prescribing pain killers. On top of this there was bruising on her neck, in which we believe, that someone had hold of her by the throat."

The doctor paused as they reached a room with a wide window next to it. "She's just returned from a CAT scan, we were concerned about some swelling she had around her brain but it appears to have gone down in the last few hours. She was hit around the head several times, and there is distinct bruising on the left side of her face as well as a cut on the right side close to her eye, we had to stitch that up I'm afraid."

Mac and Hawkes moved to the window and peered in at Carmen's sleeping form.

"We were surprised to find all her internal organs intact, I'm happy to say," Doctor Harris let out a sigh before taking off his glasses.

"Is there any sign of…" Hawkes trailed off as the Doctor's expression turned to one of understanding.

"We ran a sexual assault kit, it was negative. You can go in now if you like," Doctor Harris told them kindly, before opening the door and ushering them inside.

Mac and Hawkes walked quietly into the room, feeling a sense of anger at the state Carmen was in. Mac picked up her hand and held it softly. "Carmen?" he said gently. "I need you to wake up. I need you to tell me who did this to you."

Hawkes waited patiently, knowing that Carmen wouldn't awake until her body was ready.

**~G~H~**

B

**We love it when you R&R so let us now what you think of the story!**

_Demolished-soul: -Aph- Glad to hear it, even we're not entirely sure which way this is going to go! (Sparky) – If our muses finally decide which way we're going to take that, we'll be very happy! (Ax) It was an idea, and then it felt crazy, and then it felt right, and then crazy, and then we're back full circle! Sparky's right – we'll be happy ourselves when we work that one out!_

_Meadow567: -Aph- lol you'll have to wait and see but I promise you, you'll see a lot of action. (Sparky) We have part of this written, but as for where it ends up eventually? Only the muses know! (Ax) I think our muses have been working OT on our other fics – we'll get there eventually!_

_Maddy Bellows: -Aph- lol glad your liking what we're doing lol we work hard to make it well rounded. (Sparky) We aim to please! It's really a good match up with us, because we are all good at the differing parts of the story! (Ax) It's just fun. And yet, for some reason, we haven't worked on it in a while – damn that real life!_

_JoanneF: -Aph- lol you'll have to wait and see how it all pieces together for them. Glad you're loving it. Our O.C's guest star in everyone's stories at the min. It's like a little family. (Sparky) Welcome! I'm glad that you are enjoying it so far. I hope you like what we have planned! (Ax) The pairings in this story keep driving me mad – I have no idea anymore! But you may be right… you may also be wrong… wow, that was a helpful statement, eh?_


	12. Officer Down

**Gotham's Heroes is a collective story from SparkyCSI, Aphina and Axellia (please read the author bio for further information). **

**Whilst we own our OC's, even when we combine our savings, we are not even close to owning a percentage of CSI: NY - so don't sue us!**

**Gotham's Heroes**

**Chapter 12. Officer Down**

Angell and Taylor were walking out of her apartment, when Angell's phone rang. "Angell?"

Taylor watched as the blood drained out of the other woman's face. "What's wrong?"

Angell held up her hand as she listened to the person on the other line. "Got it. I'll be there in fifteen." As soon as she flipped her phone shut, she turned to Taylor. "It's Carmen."

Taylor's mind immediately went to the worst. "Oh, God. Is she dead?"

Angell shook her head somberly. "No. She was attacked while she was shopping. She's in Trinity Hospital, right now."

Taylor's hand rose to cover her mouth. "Shit. I'm going there right now. It's all my fault!" Taylor fled from Angell, down the street, guilt overwhelming her.

**~G~H~**

Stella decided that she needed to inform the team of what was going on. Taking a deep breath she quickly gathered Danny, Lindsay, Adam, and Flack, whom had just walked in. She looked at each of her team members. "I have some bad news."

Lindsay drew her brows together, the anxiety turning her stomach icy. "What's wrong, Stel?"

Stella grimaced. "Carmen was attacked today. It looks like a mugging gone wrong."

Flack quickly sat down, fear overwhelming him. "Is she alright?" he asked, trying not to think of the worst.

"I don't know her condition. Mac and Hawkes are at Trinity hospital right now." She held up her hand as they got up as one unit. "No. Everyone else is staying here. We have open and active cases that need to be worked."

Danny squared his shoulders. "I don't care, Stel. I'm going to the hospital."

Stella glared at him. "No, you are not. This is a direct order from Mac. Stay here. Work your cases. This is not a request." She turned her glare to include everyone else. "Understood?"

She waited it out until she had gotten nods from everyone except Flack, who returned her glare. "You can't order me around, Stella. I'm not on the clock. I'll go and keep everyone informed."

Stella nodded. "That's fine." She turned and walked out of the room.

Once she was gone, Danny picked up his phone.

**~G~H~**

Cory had just finished her bedroom when the phone rang. Sprinting into the living room, she grabbed it and answered breathlessly, "Reid."

"Cory, it's Danny. Listen. Carmen has been attacked. She's at Trinity Hospital."

"Shit. I'm on my way. I'll let you know what I find." She hung up with Danny, not even bothering to say good-bye. She glanced down at her attire. She was wearing a faded pair of jeans and a baggy shirt. She shrugged, deciding not to care what she looked like and grabbed her keys on the way out the door.

**~G~H~**

Flack and Taylor arrived at the hospital at the same time. Taylor saw him walking five steps in front of her and decided to take a chance. "Don!" she yelled.

Flack turned around at her voice. "Taylor? Do you know anything?"

Taylor shook her head. "No. Jennifer got the call just as we were leaving her apartment. I took off as soon as she told me. What happened?"

Flack sighed, his concern for Carmen palpable. "No idea. Stella just told me. Mac and Hawkes are here. I hope they can tell us more."

Taylor looked at the emotion that was flickering across his face. _I've never seen him so concerned. Damn. He really has feelings for her_. She sighed in defeat, promising herself that she would try to let him go. "Let's go find her," she said softly.

When they walked into her room, they saw Mac and Hawkes sitting quietly. Mac looked at the two as they walked in. "She hasn't woken up yet."

Flack sat down heavily at Carmen's bedside and picked up her hand. "Carmen? Please, wake up. We need to…" he trailed off as he realized that Taylor probably didn't know that he was dating her yet. He looked at Taylor, a look of hurt flashing over her face.

She drew a steadying breath and looked at him. "It's okay, Don. I know."

Flack's eyes probed her and then he nodded. "Carmen, we may have missed our reservations, but I still want to finish the date. We can't do that if you won't wake up." His pleas penetrated her sleeping mind and Carmen's eyelids fluttered.

She slowly opened her eyes and muttered, "Ow."

Mac jumped up, taking control of the situation. "Carmen? Do you remember what happened?"

Carmen turned her eyes to him. "Some bastard tried to steal my purse. I ran after him into an alley. There was a second guy waiting. He threw me up against the wall and kept asking me where it was. I don't know what _it_ is!" She thought back over her attack. "God…This is important. They were speaking Italian."

Everyone in the room looked puzzled. Flack brushed her hair back. "So you think this was the Italian Mob?"

Carmen shook her head. "Not New York Italian. Italian Italian." The group looked at each other in confusion.

"I don't understand," said Mac.

"I do," came a voice from the doorway.

Everyone turned to look at Cory who was marching into the room. "I think I know who it was," she said.

Mac looked at her, his eyebrows raised in surprise. "Go on."

Cory sighed. "Does everyone know exactly what happened to us in Italy?" She looked around and saw some blank stares. "Okay. Let me fill you in."

Cory proceeded to do that over the next fifteen minutes. "So," she concluded. "After we found the flash drive, I sent an email to my Interpol contact. He just got back to me today. The group that we're looking for goes by VSPA."

"What's a scooter got to do with this?" asked Flack.

"Not the scooter. VSPA. Vindication of Slain Political Activists. It was a group that came onto Interpol's radar about two years ago." Cory sighed again, trying to recall everything that the email had detailed. "I need to do more research but here's what I know. A little more twenty years ago, before the Iron Curtain fell, a group of chemists sought political asylum in the US from Kurganakhstan."

Cory looked at the blank stares. "It's a small country that was in the southern part of the USSR," she expanded. "Anyway, asylum was denied and as a result all of the men were killed, leaving their wives and children left to fend for themselves. From what I can remember, VSPA was started by their children, seeking revenge for the deaths." Cory sat down in her chair, a feeling of dread enveloping her.

Taylor frowned. "This sounds bad. Shouldn't we contact the FBI?"

Cory stared at her in amazement. "Hello? FBI agent here! For the Dangerous Organizations Unit? Who else were you thinking of contacting?"

Taylor looked down at the floor, turning red. "Sorry. My mind's all over the place."

"So what's the next step?' Carmen asked, realizing that she was probably part of the reason and automatically feeling bad.

Mac stood up. "Cory, I have no objections to handing this information, but I want to remain the primary on Carmen's attack. She's one of our own."

Cory looked over at Carmen who, flushing, nodded her agreement. "Fine with me."

Mac returned the nod and left.

Hawkes followed him to the door and stopped to face Carmen. 'That's his way of saying, we're glad you're ok."

Carmen smiled at him (and winced at the pain in her jaw). "I know."

Cory watched Hawkes leave. "I should get to the lab and see how Adam's doing with that flash drive," she said, looking between the three remaining occupants of the room. She wished Carmen well and left.

Taylor looked between the two of them, feeling uncomfortable. "I, uh… I'm going to go, uh, see if the body of the ghost has turned up yet," she stammered and all but ran from the room.

Flack looked down at his hands. "She knows."

Carmen nodded. "She found out last night,' she told him softly.

He looked up at her and found she was staring out of the window, the traces of a frown lining her head. "What are you thinking?"

"We should have told her," Carmen sighed.

"I know," he agreed.

"And maybe we shouldn't see each other," she uttered so quietly Flack wasn't sure he'd heard her properly.

"Me and Taylor are over," he told her.

Carmen focused her attention on her bedspread, pulling at the fluff. "Does she know that? Because our friendship is in tatters and I'm not sure how strong the cotton is that's trying to keep it together."

"Interesting analogy. But friendship's made of stronger stuff, Princess."

Carmen looked over at him and her resolve weakened. She'd been trying desperately hard not to look at those blue eyes.

Flack took her hand and looked down at it, caressing it between his thumb and his fingers.

"You know I was really scared when Stella told us that you'd been assaulted…I've never been so afraid." Carmen bowed her head as he spoke, tears were glistening in her eyes and her jaw was hurting more from the fact she was clenching it so tightly shut. The first tear fell on the back of Flack's hand. He rose his head and saw her shoulders shaking as she tried to repress the uproar of emotion.

"Hey." He shuffled closer and wrapped his arms around her, stroking her hair soothingly.

"I can't do this any more, I can't have her mad at me anymore. I'm sorry, I am so, so sorry Don," she uttered pulling back away from him wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. Don took a deep breath, studying her face.

"Is this what you really want?" he asked swallowing the hard lump in his throat. Carmen turned her head away from him and nodded.

Don rose to his feet, starring at her sadly. It hurt him to see her like this. She looked crushed underneath the bruises.

"I… I'll swing by later, bring by a few of your clothes," he offered quietly. She nodded again not trusting herself to speak. It wasn't until she heard the door shut softly behind him that she let out all of her tears and began to cry.

**~G~H~**

"Cory!" Taylor bellowed as she sprinted down the corridor, earning several disapproving glares and comments.

Cory stopped and waited for the journalist. "You know, I left so you three could talk."

Taylor looked down at her shoes (her trainers were the only thing she was wearing that actually belonged to her, again). "I don't think she wants to see me ever again."

"Have you tried to talk to her?"

Taylor shook her head.

"Then here's some advice – try talking to her," she told her, rolling her eyes. "You two are going to be the death of me!"

"_Lei deve fermare loro._"

Taylor whipped her head around at the sound of the Italian ghost's voice. "Has your body turned up at the morgue, or are you just here to annoy me again?"

Cory stared at her. Alright, so she could see ghosts… but when Cory couldn't, it really did look like the woman was crazy. The fact she was slightly flushed from the running, and her hair was also looking a little disheveled didn't help matters either.

"_Lei deve fermare loro._"

Taylor sighed and turned to Maddy. "I get you can't help, but seriously, this is getting to be ridiculous."

Maddy cocked her head at her living friend. "What are you going to do? Bitch slap me? Because the only person that hurts is Carmen, not me."

Taylor's mouth dropped open. "I am _so_ not having that conversation with you."

"Well you're not having it with the two people you should be having it with, so not having it with me is going to be just as useful."

"Are you conspiring with Cory?' she asked her.

Cory's eyes flicked from Taylor's face to the… nothing… in front of her, and back again. "Excuse me?"

Taylor took a breath. "If it makes you feel any better, Maddy agrees with you."

"That's good to know," Cory muttered, even though she felt a little lost.

"_Lei deve fermare loro._"

Taylor held her hands out at Woody. "What?" she snapped. "You keep telling me to stop them. Stop who? Huh? And telling me that over and over is not helping me in any way, shape or form. Give me _something_ to go on!"

Woody looked thoughtful. And then his clothing changed to a uniform. Taylor stared at it. "Thank you," she muttered, wondering why it looked so familiar.

Cory waved a hand in front of her face. "What was that?"

Taylor turned. "I think I need to get to the lab.

**~G~H~**

_Demolished soul: -Aph-You'll have to wait and see how it all connects up. As far as I know nothing else happened between Angell and Tay just a kiss. (Sparky) It is all connected, but how, I hope we surprise you by! It was just a kiss (as far as our muses are telling us!). (Ax) – Sort of. My muses have gone crazy… as to whether something continues to happen, I'm waiting on my muses to make their minds up!_

_Laplandgurl: -Aph- Don't we know it, we're all busy with something or other at different times in the day that's why it's a struggle to write or update sometimes. (Sparky) I think the hardest part of this is that Aph and Ax are 6 hours ahead of me! When I get home from work, it's time for them to be in bed! We try to hook up on weekends, but life has been kinda crazy lately! (Ax) – Well, I think the other two summed it up, but at least we're having fun with it!_

_Meadow567: -Aph- Glad you liked it , we aim to please! (Sparky) Thanks! We try hard to make sure that everyone is enjoying it! (Ax) – so long as people like you are reading, we'll continue writing!_

_Maddy Bellows: -Aph- Surprise! Lol I'm glad you liked this and we're managing to keep you entertained. (Sparky) I think both of your questions were answered in this chapter (which is one of my favs) and I love what we've revealed about the bad guys! (Ax) To keep you hanging, the big Interpol reveal is in the next chapter – we like to be cruel like that!_

_JoanneF: -Aph- lol we're glad your surprised, we worked hard on trying to make it a little different. I hope you got your wish. (Sparky) Thanks! Know you have some information on the bad guys! I hope that your are intrigued! (Ax) – glad you're enjoying! It's a relief really, because we really have put so much time and effort into it!_


	13. Atonement and Revenge

**Gotham's Heroes is a collective story from SparkyCSI, Aphina and Axellia (please read the author bio for further information). **

**Whilst we own our OC's, even when we combine our savings, we are not even close to owning a percentage of CSI: NY - so don't sue us!**

**Gotham's Heroes**

**Chapter 13: Atonement and Revenge**

"Miss Devine. What on earth do you think your doing?" The nurse bristled, standing in the doorway, hands on her hips as Carmen winced attempting to shrug on the new shirt Don had dropped off earlier.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Carmen replied irritably, trying as gently as possible to work her fingers to use the buttons.

The moment she bent down to pick up the bag Don had also dropped off, she regretted it immensely. Grinding her teeth as she heard the nurse move around to her side of the bed, Carmen grabbed the strap and slid it onto her shoulder, slipping the book Don had thoughtfully left her into the bag. She couldn't think about him right now. It was too much to even look at him when he'd dropped off her clothes and rushed out again.

The nurse was standing in front of her now as she attempted to straighten up. Although she'd taken the pain killers, they did little good against the pain in her stomach and abdomen and there wasn't much she could do about the bruising on her face. She knew she looked like something out of a horror movie.

"You are in no fit state to discharge yourself from this hospital." The nurse bellowed in a shrill voice. Carmen shot her a death glare.

"If I can walk and talk I'm pretty much free to go." She stated before walking as quickly as she could out the door, ignoring the nurse's mumblings at her retreating back.

**~G~H~**

The lab was quiet when she stepped off the elevator. She'd ignored the stares as she'd stepped through reception. She was hoping to avoid Mac and Stella at all costs; as she stepped toward the AV lab she saw Taylor's familiar head bobbing next to Adam's. Carmen knew she wasn't ready to confront Taylor again especially after her own break up with Flack, but she had to find out what was going on. Her own desire to discover the truth about her attack, overwhelmed her slight fear, and she pushed the door open, stepping forward into it.

Both Taylor and Adam's eyes widened in surprise at Carmen standing in the door way. Taylor opened her mouth to say something as her voice was drowned out by a loud bellowing from behind Carmen.

"CARMEN DEVINE!" Mac's voice echoed through the entire lab, causing them all to jump. Carmen closed her eyes for a mere second before spinning around to face Mac, who was striding towards her, a distinct look of disbelief on his face. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in hospital recovering from a vicious assault, not gallivanting over here."

"But Mac…"

"You've been through a violent ordeal and I will not having you running around and straining yourself."

Carmen's hands were on her hips as she squared off to Mac. "I am not straining myself. I simply wanted to know what's going on. All of these events are connected to us and I want to know why," she retorted.

Mac leaned forward glowering. Carmen was beginning to lose her nerve. "Go Home."

Carmen shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest. "This is the safest place I can be right now," she pointed out.

Mac's jaw tightened. "I won't have you near the labs. Break room now!" he yelled pointing at a closed door to the left of him.

Deciding she'd pushed her luck enough. Carmen sulkily stepped towards the break room.

**~G~H~**

Carmen was standing in the break room, her back to the door, pouring water into a mug, when she heard the door open behind her. Glancing over her shoulder she caught sight of Taylor dropping into a seat across from her.

There was an awkward silence for a few minute before Carmen blurted out the first thing that came into her head. "Coffee?" she asked quietly without turning around.

"I don't drink it, thanks." Taylor replied.

"I finished with Don, so no hard feelings?" Carmen said, stirring her spoon around her coffee frantically.

"Why?"

Carmen turned to face Taylor who was tracing circles on the table with her finger. Carmen shrugged, "Our friendship was worth more that."

There was a long pause before Taylor spoke rising to her feet as Carmen set her coffee down. "You didn't have to do that." Taylor turned, reaching for the door handle, still uncomfortable with the situation.

Carmen leapt forward grabbing her arm lightly. "Seriously I did, it didn't feel right if you weren't happy with it," Carmen confessed, with a grim look. "And seriously I don't think my face can take another right hook at the moment." Carmen continued.

Taylor turned around and finally met her eyes. "I love Don. I always will. But I know that me and him are over. I… just life has been so hectic and the holiday was supposed to help me move on… but I haven't stopped…"

Carmen watched the emotions spreading across Taylor's face as she struggled to explain.

"I want him to be happy… I want YOU to be happy… I just… I'm …" she trailed off, looking down at her hands.

Carmen let out a tired sigh before dropping down into the nearest seat and resuming the conversation. "And I want you to be happy and not feeling awkward over things if we were together. I just think its better for everybody involved if we just don't go there."

"Better for everybody? Or better for me?" Taylor pointed out. Carmen turned her head away without answering. Taylor stepped forward. "Because you only find someone special once in your life - and you found him."

Carmen bit her lip and ran a hand through her hair before answering. "You don't know that he might still be yours," she said quietly. "I don't really know anymore," she murmured putting her head in her hands before continuing. "Everything hurts and everything's so messed up."

Taylor sighed before leaning against fridge and resting her head against it as she stared at the ceiling. "I don't want to be the cause of any more hurt. If Don wants to be there for you, let him." She paused for a second smiling sadly. "There aren't very many guys like Donald Flack."

Carmen chuckled knowingly. "Isn't that the truth?" She stated before fixing Taylor with her eyes, studying her. "So you're okay with it?"

"I'm not _not_ okay with. But I will be. I'll have to be." Taylor let out a deep sigh of her own. "I deal with enough ghosts - I don't need the ghosts of my past lingering around too. Because combined with Maddy - that's far too much!"

Carmen bowed her head before nodding. "Thank you," she murmured giving Taylor an honest grin, and reaching out a hand. "Friends?"

Taylor nodded and accepted Carmen's out stretched palm, before doing her own analysis on Carmen's face. "At least you can't see where I hit you," she added hesitantly, releasing Carmen's hand.

Carmen raised her hand to the side of her face where Taylor had struck. It was tender, and buried under newer bruises now. "Compared to what the Italians did, yours was a love tap. Could have been worse though." Carmen shivered at the memory of the knife across her skin.

"I'm sorry I hit you," Taylor said, looking slightly embarrassed.

Carmen shrugged; grateful things were getting back to normal. "That's all water under the bridge now," Carmen said. "To be fair you have a good right hook. And I kind of deserved it," she added.

"The first slap, maybe. And you can thank my brother for that. He taught me how to hit. Maybe I'll introduce you to him one day."

Carmen grinned. "I'd like that."

Taylor gave Carmen a warm grin before breaking into the comfortable silence. "Maybe we should see if that flash drive gives us the names of the bastards that are ruining our lives." Carmen nodded her reply and held the door open as Taylor stepped though.

Carmen and Taylor saw Cory walking in the hallway just as they stepped out.

"Hey!" Cory shouted. "I might have some info!"

Carmen and Taylor stopped and looked at her expectantly. She just walked by them and continued to the audio/video lab. The other two looked at each other and shrugged as they started to follow her.

When she got there, Cory was happy to see that Mac was in the lab with Adam.

"Hey, Mac."

"Cory? What are you doing here?"

Cory smiled. "Well, I thought that since we are technically sharing this investigation, that I could do some of my research from here. How do you feel about making an international call?"

Mac stared at her with confusion on his face. "What?"

Cory smiled. "My Interpol contact has all sorts of info on VSPA. I want call him and have him give us that info. I just want to make sure that it's okay."

Mac thought for a moment. "Alright. I'll authorize it."

Cory nodded. "Where can I set up?"

"In here is fine."

Carmen and Taylor looked at each other. Carmen decided to question Adam while Cory sat everything up. "Adam? Have you had any luck with the flash drive?"

Adam sighed. "Yes and no. I've managed to discover that there are multiple layers of protection on it. I've broken through the initial encryption, but I found a second more difficult encryption behind it."

Carmen shook her head if frustration and looked at Taylor who seemed to be staring off in space.

Taylor wasn't paying attention to the conversation. She was staring at Woody and Maddy who had reappeared. "_Lei deve fermare loro_," Woody said urgently. "_Per favore, lei deve fermare loro_." Taylor shook her head. She wasn't used to a ghost actually say please.

"Taylor?" a voice interrupted her thoughts. "You okay?"

Taylor shook her head and looked back at Carmen. "Woody's back. And he's dressed in a uniform that I've seen before, but I can't place it."

Cory looked up at them and Mac. She smiled at the fact that they seemed to have resolved their differences. Feeling more relaxed, she quickly dialed Alistair.

"_Murphy."_

"Hey, Alistair. It's Cory. I've going to put you on speaker phone, so you can fill me in on VSPA." Cory placed him on speaker phone. "Alistair, let me introduce you to everyone that is here. You have, from the crime lab, Mac Taylor, Adam Ross, Carmen Devine and Dr. Sheldon Hawkes. You also have Taylor Turner; she's a specialist in getting good information." Cory was a little vague on what Taylor did because she knew that Alistair wouldn't approve. Then she looked at the team assembled. "Y'all. This is Alistair Murphy, with Interpol."

The team made their introductions, while Cory logged into the FBI database. When everyone was done, she queried, "Alistair, what can you tell us about VSPA?"

"_Good morning all," _Alistair's crisp English voice floated into the lab. "_I suppose that I should start at the beginning._

"_Back in 1920, Joseph Goebbels coined the term, the Iron Curtain-"_

"That was Winston Churchill," Taylor interrupted with a frown.

"_That is a common misconception,_" Murphy's said, his tone indicating irritation. _"Churchill popularized the term in 1946 after Goebbels published his manifesto in 1945. But that is a moot point. The term symbolized the separation between Western and Eastern Europe. __Kurganakhstan was one of these countries. Although part of the Soviet Union, Kurganakhstan was allied with Germany. When Germany fell at the end of World War Two, Russia took back Kurganakhstan and began persecuting those who had aided those in the Triple Alliance._

"_Unfortunately for a small group of scientists, the Russians were ruthless in their persecution – regardless of if the men and women had simply been following orders. In 1984, after a generation of persecution, a group of scientists applied to America for asylum. In 1986, it was unofficially denied."_

"What do you mean _unofficially_ denied, Alistair?" Cory asked, looking up from the notes she was taking.

"_The official stance on the request was that the US never received the papers. According to my sources, the request was denied, and the scientists were informed that the US government never received the papers. Before the scientists could resend the documentation, they were killed. Again, official sources state that it was a random killing, but the unofficial records show that they were assassinated by the Russian government."_

"I'm slightly confused," said Taylor with a frown. "Why would the Russians have them killed?"

"_Although persecuted, the scientists were forced to continue developing the weaponries they had been, for the Russians. The Russians were worried that the scientists would sell the secrets to the US government."_

Taylor was still frowning. "So why didn't the US grant them asylum?"

"_Because the US was paranoid they were spies. But that is opening a can of worms I'm not going to elaborate on, as you know from our conversations, Corrine."_

Cory grinned; she and Alistair had had many a conversation about the US's paranoia during the Cold War (Cory obviously being pro-American, and Alistair being slightly unenthusiasticabout the country's actions during that period.)

"_Anyway. Where was I? Oh yes. At the time, it was thought that the families of the scientists were also killed, but no bodies were 'officially' discovered. Of course, what was official and unofficial at that time is still being verified. It would appear that the families fled and went into hiding. Three years ago, the Vindication of Slain Political Activists, or the VPSA, began making waves in Eastern Europe. Up until recently, they were considered nothing more than a low priority, but after 9/11, they went up on Interpol's radar. Although this is still unconfirmed, their organization had been consistently been flashing up on our radar, although we can never prove their activities."_

"Alright, so how did they end up in Italy?" Carmen asked.

"_This is only an unconfirmed theory, but my sources suggest that evidence of the asylum rejection was being held in a vault box in __the _Banca Nazionale del Lavoro_ in Rome."_

"Do you have anything else?" Cory asked him.

"_The VSPA is a small organization of about ten or so members, although it seems they have support from various other anti-American terrorist groups. Their leader is a Yorgi Desya Csokas, who also goes by the alias of Gabriele Albanesi. His second in command is one, Yaromir Petya Breirgen, alias, Nico Fidenco,"_ Murphy sighed. _"For now, that's all I have. But I will get in touch if I find anything else."_

Cory said her goodbyes and hung up the phone.

"So why are they breaking into our apartments?" Taylor asked the group. "I mean, I know they want that flash drive back, but surely there is more to it than that? I mean, what's so bad about us finding out what's on that drive. Surely finding out that the US was behind the murder of a group of scientists-"

"Allegedly," Mac cut her off.

"_Allegedly_," Taylor corrected herself. "But surely, it would be beneficial to VSPA if someone found this information. I mean, professionally speaking, this could potentially be a breaking story – if I were to publish it-" she held her hands up in defense, spotting the several glares that were being shot in her direction. "I'm talking hypothetically, of course."

Hawkes nodded. "Taylor has a point. This story being found is only going to strengthen their accusations."

"Which means there must be more on the flash drive," Carmen mused out loud. "Something they don't want us to see."

Mac stood. "Hawkes, you and I are going to continue processing the evidence from the burglaries – see if that turns up more information. Carmen, I want you to help Cory and Adam – no field work! But I think it's important that we find out more about the VSPA."

Hawkes nodded and followed Mac out of the room, whilst Carmen, Cory and Adam bounded into action.

**~G~H~**

Taylor watched as Carmen, Cory and Adam worked away, trying to decrypt the flash drive and try to locate as much information as possible on the VSPA. Truth be told, she was feeling a little useless. She wasn't a scientist – she wasn't a cop. All she could do was translate a couple of documents, and let's be honest – they could have had an interpreter up for that.

In fact, with Maddy and Woody beside her, she still wasn't able to do much. Woody was giving her _nothing_. Finally, even he seemed to realize that and the pair disappeared.

Leaving the three doing – well, she wasn't even sure _what_ exactly – she left the lab and meandered down to the break room. If nothing else, she could check her voicemail. Not that that would benefit anyone, but it gave her something to do.

She regretted it immediately when she heard her editor's voice blasting down the phone, yelling at her for her behavior, and mentioning something about the _NYC Star_. The _NYC Star_ was a tabloid rag which printed more gossip than news, and Alex, her editor, hated because he and the owner of that paper didn't get along.

Seeing that Carmen, Cory and Adam still had their heads bent over a computer, she slipped her phone into her pocket and slipped out of the lab. Outside, she headed to the nearest paper stand, hunting out the _NYC Star_. Her hand froze, hovering over the paper in question, when she spotted the headline. The picture took up virtually the entity of the cover. It was a picture of her and Carmen outside the hospital, her fist just connecting with Carmen's face.

Taylor snatched it up, her eyes quickly reading. The headline blared, Daily Reporter Attacks Cop.  _Taylor Turner, Crime Columnist proves that crime is _not_ sexy as she attacks an officer in the middle of Trinity hospital…_ Taylor's mouth dropped open in horror as she continued reading – they'd even taken a picture of Carmen after she had been attacked by the terrorists and had the audacity to claim she had done that.

She thrust some bills onto the counter, ignored the look the vendor was giving her, and rolled the paper up, dashing back up to the break room. No wonder Alex was fuming.

**~G~H~**

**AN: **_Okay. We have absolutely not excuse for not posting this sooner and we offer our sincere apologies that it has taken so long. Unfortunately, real life has interfered with all of us and the ability to brainstorm together. But, now onto the reviews responses!_

_Meadow567 – (Sparky) Yes, she was and in this story, Cory is not able to see ghosts yet. It may turn out that way (our muses are decidedly CRAZY) so hopefully, someone will be able to see Maddy in the future! (Aph) Glad your enjoying the story we work hard on it. (Ax) I thought about it, and realized I would never want that 'gift' – people think I'm crazy as it is, lol! But it makes for fun writing._

_Demolished-soul – (Sparky) Was this soon enough? We couldn't keep that drama for long since there is so much more drama to come! (Aph) lol Situations like this need to be resolved as quickly as possible and hey, that's what they did. But Sparky's right there's a lot more drama to come. (Ax) Drama of the action kind! (:P) I really think we may be enjoying ourselves a little too much!_

_JoanneF – (Sparky) Thanks! We love the drama in this case and how everything has meaning…and yes, they will remain friends. It's kinda necessary for this story! (LOL) (Aph) We work hard on talking out what such a conflict would do to the chars. You'll just have to wait and see what happens with everybody. I'm glad you like them together. (Ax) See, it's virtually resolved already. The problem is, it's fun to write!_

_Laplandgurl – (Sparky) It may be what pays the bills, but it's seriously irking me right now! I think a lot of our chaps end on cliffhangers, so sorry! (Aph) Yea RL sucks at the min we're all working all the time and trying to pay bills, then you get the add ons of RL and time differences. We're still trying tho! (Ax) I tell ya, if FF paid per word, I would gladly take this as an occupation! As it stands, I'm at my second job pretending to be working to post this! Shhhh! Sorry to keep you waiting!_

_The Corrupter – (Sparky) I can promise you that Tay and Flack will not be together in this story, sorry! I'm glad you like Cory…you so should check out A Time to Heal and I can't see Cory and Mac together…he's more of a father figure to her. Of course she has to be bossy, someone who isn't would be run over by Danny and I just can't have that! As per who Taylor is ending up with…not even we know at this moment, it's changed 4 times, so we've decided to leave it up to our muses. Hopefully this chapter answered your questions about VSPA! (Aph) What can I say, you don't like the pairing? Don't bother reading. It's as simple as that. (Ax) Cory with Mac? Interesting – that's all I can say about that, lol. I'm glad you got the email I sent you – so please bear it in mind!_


	14. Confessions and Commands

**Gotham's Heroes is a collective story from SparkyCSI, Aphina and Axellia (please read the author bio for further information). **

**Whilst we own our OC's, even when we combine our savings, we are not even close to owning a percentage of CSI: NY - so don't sue us!**

**Gotham's Heroes**

**Chapter 14: Confessions and Commands**

Angell surveyed the mayhem in front of her. Someone had dumped a body in the middle of Grand Central Station and so far, not a single person had actually noticed. She'd called her lieutenant and requested a partner for this case. Not only did she need help with the interviewing, she had just spotted another dumped body. Only this one had been stabbed.

She wasn't even sure how many were actually witnesses, and how many had turned up just to stare.

"You needed back up?"

She rose to her feet, turning, to find Flack staring down at her. "I thought you had just been released from the hospital?" she asked him, eyeing suspiciously. The Captain would have her head if he was returning to work against orders.

Flack nodded, as if reading her mind. "They're swamped. They've had a drive-by and a multi-car pile-up over on the interstate. Even the CSI's are swamped. But we should be getting someone soon."

Angell nodded. She'd heard the calls go out over her radio, and Flack _was_ wearing his badge still. "So far, I've found two victims. One stabbed, one shot. No one saw anything, no one head anything. But these guys are stone cold. It's like they were killed, stored, and dumped. But how the hell can you dump two bodies and no one notice?"

Flack frowned and looked around at the uniforms talking statements from witness, the majority of which we either shaking their heads or looked completely clueless. "Just another day in New York City, huh?"

Angell sighed. "You're telling me," she muttered, her eyes falling to the paper which was curling around her feet. She looked back up at Flack and then did a double take as she spotted a familiar face on the front page. She reached down and grabbed it.

"What are you doing?" Flack yelped. "That's evidence!"

"That's your girlfriend," Angell countered, holding the front page up.

Flack's jaw hit the floor as he saw the picture of Taylor clocking Carmen. "What the _hell_ is that?"

"That would be your girlfriend and your ex-girlfriend battling out over you," Angell informed him.

Flack's eyes narrowed, picking up the hint of bitterness in Angell's tone. "I didn't encourage them to fight. And I certainly don't condone it."

Angell rolled her eyes. "Well they did. And I'm the one who had to take Taylor home and comfort her as she cried all night."

Flack looked back at the paper, feeling guilty. "We should have told her," he sighed.

"Damn straight," Angell snapped. "Because now Taylor doesn't know what she wants." She quickly looked away, wishing she could take that statement back.

"What does that mean?" Flack asked her, his curiosity peaked. _Surely she wasn't saying what he thought she was saying, was she?_

'And your saviors have arrived," Danny's cheerful voice boomed at them as he and Lindsay ducked under the rope.

Flack tore his eyes away from Angell and forced them to look at his best friend. "What time do you call this?" he asked him.

Danny shrugged. "We had to walk three blocks because half of the roads are closed off. Would you believe the luck drivers are having today? I'm telling you – EMS are rushed off their feet. I just hope that nothing else happens, or I think a lot off people are going to be called in on their day off."

"What's that?" Lindsay asked, pointing to the paper Flack was still holding. "I hope that's not evidence, Don."

"It, uh…" Flack stammered wondering if he should tell the truth or lie.

"It's Carmen and Taylor's bitch fight," Angell explained.

_Guess it was the truth then._

Danny pulled it from him and scanned the front page. "Damn. Nancy Drew can punch. At least my girlfriend is normal." He looked up to find three pairs of eyes staring at him. He shrugged. "Me and Cory are officially dating."

Lindsay let out a squeal of excitement and leapt up at Danny, wrapping her arms around him. "I'm so happy for you!"

Danny looked around uncomfortably – he wasn't being paranoid when he thought people were watching them. Whereas the morbid onlookers were staring at the crime scene, now, Lindsay's squeals had caused them to divert their attention to the source of the high pitch yell of excitement. "I think we should maybe get on with processing this scene," he muttered uncomfortably.

Lindsay unwrapped herself from around Danny's neck and looked around, quickly straightening her top and clearing her top. "Maybe you're right,' she agreed. "You want to take this one," she nodded at the stab victim. "I'll take the other one."

Taylor stared at the paper in a combination of horror, disbelief and amazement. The question now was, how was she going to break the news to Carmen that she was on the cover of a tabloid rag? She didn't have much time to ponder the question as her phone rang.

Glancing at the caller ID and seeing it was withheld, she flicked her phone open, figuring she was about to get a roasting from Alex. She was very much mistaken when a cold, Russian accented voice spoke to her in Italian. _"Ciao, Ms. Turner. Dovremmo parlare."_ Taylor felt her blood run cold.

"Who is this?" she asked.

"_That is not important. What is important is that you have something of mine and I would like it back."_

"I don't know what you're talking about,' Taylor said.

"_Now we both know that isn't true," the_ voice mocked her. _"Do you know where your friends are?"_

Taylor bit her lip. "What are you talking about?"

"_Those pretty detective friends of yours. We've met one of them already – he wasn't very helpful, but your reaction was quite entertaining."_

Taylor glanced down at the paper in front of her, her own face teasing her. She swallowed. "What are you talking about?" she repeated.

"_Right now, four of your friends are trying to figure out why two seemingly unconnected bodies have been dumped at Grand Central Station. Now, at the moment, those bodies are harmless. However, that could change. If you want to see your friends again, you will return that flash drive to us. Needless to say, if you inform them that there is something, how do you say, 'off' with their crime scene, we will kill them, along with a large percentage of New York."_

Taylor could feel the blood rushing from her head. "How?" she managed to force out the question, although her voice was barely louder than a whisper.

The voice on the other end of the phone laughed at her. _"Let's just say our fathers taught us a thing or two before your country ensured their murder."_

"What do you mean?" Taylor demanded. But it was too late – she was talking to a dial tone. With her body trembling at the message, Taylor headed straight back to the crime lab.

**~G~H~**

"I've cracked it." Adam uttered. Carmen merely blinked for a second, before throwing her arms around Adam's neck.

"You are a genius." Cory said grinning and leaning forward to catch a glimpse of the shape on the screen as the door burst open behind them. Carmen turned to greet a breathless Taylor.

"Adam's just cracked the decryption!" Carmen told her also leaning over Adam's shoulder.

"We have a bigger problem." All three of them now turned to face Taylor who shut the door behind her.

"VSPA just called me; we need to give them the flash drive." Taylor told them. Cory's expression turned to a frown as Carmen's jaw dropped.

"What did they say exactly?" Cory asked, keeping calm despite the fact she was alarmed.

Taylor explained the phone call as the others listened intently.

"There's been multiple call outs today, they could be talking about anyone, anywhere." Carmen thought out loud. Taylor shook her head.

"It's got to be somewhere where Flack is, remember the message?" Carmen nodded, panic filling her chest. She shoved it away.

"Flack was meant to be off today…"

"They called him in to work a scene; it's crazy out there at the minute." Adam added. Carmen stared at him, a new wave of sickness filling her.

"Do these blue prints look a lot like Grand Central Station to you?" Taylor asked, peering at the screen. They all leaned over Adam looking at the screen.

"Danny, Angell and Lindsey are at that call out." Adam murmured, as the horror of the situation struck the girls even more.

"And there's no way to contact them…" Cory whispered a look of fear in her face.

Adam was the first to speak.

"I can make a copy of the flash drive…" His words seem to snap them all back into action.

"Can you do that?" Carmen asked wrapping her arms around herself as she struggled with Taylor's information. Adam nodded before beginning to tap violently fast on the keyboard.

"There's no guarantee that if we give them the flash drive that they won't kill them anyway." Cory mused out loud. Carmen was still looking over Adam's shoulder at something that looked like blueprints.

Taylor was shaking her head arms crossed.

"It's the only thing we can do, we have no idea what they're plans are." Taylor muttered.

"Actually…" Carmen murmured into the silence. "I think they've made a chemical bomb."

The two girls heads whipped around focusing on Carmen who was studying what Adam had up on screen. A list of long chemical names and doses.

_Let's just say our fathers taught us a thing or two… _The words echoed around Taylor's head as she frowned.

"It would make sense, they're fathers were chemists." Cory said out loud, her brain still ticking over.

"What if…what if the crime scene was a fake, what if the bombs hidden somewhere there?"

"But what wouldn't look out of place at a crime scene? Judging from the amounts here this bomb wouldn't be something you could just slip into your pocket…" Cory continued.

"And it can't be that noticeable otherwise the guys would have already called it in." Carmen pointed out.

Taylor was watching Woody with a confused expression on her face. He had suddenly reappeared and was pointing furiously at his stomach.

"Hungry?" she questioned frowning. Woody shook his head and looked around for something. He pointed at the screwdriver Adam had left out on the counter.

"Screw driver, screw, tools…" Taylor guessed. Woody rolled his eyes and pointed at himself and drew a line from his chest to his pelvic bone. Meanwhile the others had stopped debating and were staring at Taylor like she was crazy as she muttered random words under her breath.

Woody was looking around again, and pointed at a file with a photograph attached to it.

"Photo, frame, camera, film, strangled?" Woody shook his head jabbing his finger more furiously at the dead woman in the photo.

"Body?" Taylor asked, crossing her arms over her chest and frowning. Woody's eyes widened and he nodded furiously.

"So…body?" Taylor repeated trying to work out where this fitted into anything that had occurred recently.

"It's in the bodies!" she suddenly erupted, startling Cory, Carmen and Adam.

By now Woody was gesturing wildly at his stomach, drawing an invisible line from the bottom of his rib cage and to his pelvic bone.

"In their stomachs?" Taylor questioned. Woody nodded a proud expression on his face. Taylor turned back to the others who were watching her with a mixture of confusion and amusement.

"Woody says the bombs are in the bodies, they cut the stomachs opened and stuffed them in that's why it hasn't been called in yet!"

"You have to hand it to them, they're clever." Carmen remarked thoughtfully. Something was beginning to twitch in her head, the makings of a plan.

"I think it's safe to say that the building's being watched right now and so is the scene. We can't step out of here without risking their lives." Cory added, assessing the situation.

"There's no way we can get a bomb squad over there, they'd blow them up the first sign they got." Cory continued. Taylor looked uneasily between the other two women and Adam.

"We're going to have to give them the flash…" Carmen interrupted Taylor's sentence to address Adam.

"Do you know if the morgue van's gone in?" Adam shook his head at her question.

"They're backlogged too." He replied. Cory raised an eyebrow in Carmen's direction.

"You thinking something." She looked at her pointedly.

"I think I may have a way to disarm the bomb without the terrorists realizing." Carmen said carefully.

"Shoot." Cory said, dropping into one of the vacant chairs, as Taylor hopped onto work surface.

"What if we got a member of the NYPD bomb squad, to dress as a hauler and go into the crime scene with the van, once they get the bodies on board, he can begin disarming? It's risky but it's the only way I can think of doing this without blowing everyone up." Carmen told them honestly.

Cory nodded her agreement.

"It's the best thing we've got. You have anyone particular in mind?" Cory asked. Carmen's face turned into a grim smile.

"Let me give him a call."

**~G~H~**

"Sullivan." The gruff voice on the other side of the phone beckoned. Carmen swallowed her panic for a second before speaking.

"Matt. It's Carmen, here, Carmen Devine…"

"Carmen. I was wondering when you were gonna give me a call." Carmen shook her head, ignoring the curious looks the rest of the group was giving her.

"Sorry Matt, this isn't a social call. Look your own speaker phone with Agent Cory Reid, Adam Ross and Taylor Turner."

"Taylor Turner?…I read her column all the time, she's amazing…"

Carmen rolled her eyes interrupting him as Taylor blushed.

"Speakerphone Matt," she reminded him. There was an embarrassed silence on the other side of the line.

"We have a situation, it's kind of a delicate one; it could do with your expertise," Carmen said tactfully.

"You want me to get my squad mobilized?" he asked finally. Carmen shook her head before realizing that Matt couldn't see it.

"I was thinking this is kind of a one man job, just you," she muttered.

"Too bad this is work related Carmen…"

"Speakerphone," she interrupted again, her face flushing red. Matt chuckled for a moment before retaining his seriousness.

"So what exactly do you want me to do?" Matt asked now in a business like voice. Carmen began to explain the plan.

**~G~H~**

**AN: **_And the plot thickens! It's an evil cliffie, we know that! We are trying to post more quickly but with 3 separate lives that are being bombarded by real life, it's tough! Let us know what you think!_

_Lapland – (Sparky) Thanks! I thought RL by itself was bad, but when you multiply that by 3, it's murder! (lol) Glad you're enjoying it and I'll try to check out the stories. (Aph) – RL is really laying a smack down on the three of us at the min, and with Christmas rolling up it's a nightmare. Your just gonna have to wait and see. I think I read Pixie and I really liked it, but I don't remember if I reviewed it or not. Thanks for the review x (Ax) Today was my first day off in eight weeks, and thus far, I have done eight loads of laundry – so sorry for the long wait on an update. I'll have a gander too – it may take a while though!_

_Maddy – (Sparky) If you ever figure out a way to become independently wealthy so we can write all day, please let me know! I'd love to! I'm glad that you liked the chap! (Aph) – lol we're late and that's kinda my fault. It's nice to hear from you again girl! If only, we could all do that! Thanks for the review. (Ax) I would love nothing more. Damn all those bills!_

_Forest Angel – (Sparky) I don't know what the extent of the implications will be just yet, but the plot is heating up, so needless to say, it may not be addressed for a while! Thanks! (Aph) – lol This ha been a complete whirlwind and of course we're all busy, but I am glad you love the story. (Ax) – I've actually had to go back and reread what was written, and I can honestly agree with sparky on that!_

_Demolished-soul – (Sparky) It definitely gets more interesting from here on. We have a lot of twists and turns planned! Thanks! (Aph) We're sorry you had to wait so long, it's just been manic, we're barely getting anytime to chat ourselves at the moment. Glad your still with us. (Ax) I keep forgetting what we write (because we go long periods on the updates/writing) and it still surprises me every time!_

_Meadow – (Sparky) Tabloids are a definite love-hate relationship. It's fun to use them in the story! Thanks. (Aph) lol I love the love-hate thing tabs have! (Ax) Well, it was fun to write, but I'd not like to do it full time, lol._


	15. The Tip Of the Iceberg

**Gotham's Heroes is a collective story from SparkyCSI, Aphina and Axellia (please read the author bio for further information). **

**Whilst we own our OC's, even when we combine our savings, we are not even close to owning a percentage of CSI: NY - so don't sue us!**

**Gotham's Heroes**

**Chapter 15: The Tip of the Iceberg**

Once Carmen finished detailing the plan, there was a silence on the phone. Frowning, Carmen said, "Matt? You there?"

The group heard a sigh on the other end of the phone. _"It's risky, Carmen. Do you even know what the chemical composition of the bomb is likely to be?"_

Cory looked over Adam's shoulder. "Matt? This is Agent Reid. Here's what I can tell from the encrypted document. We've got a possibility of it being Cyanogen chloride, hydrogen cyanide, mustard gas, Tabun, Sarin, VE or VX. I must warn you, these guys' fathers were all chemists, so there is no way to tell if it's going to be one of these or something that is completely different and unknown."

Matt sighed again. _"I'm not sure if I can do it alone."_

Carmen heard the fear in his voice. "Matt, might I remind you that there are two cops and two CSI's there? We're kinda on a time crunch. We've held up the coroner's van, so that we can get you in place."

"_Why can't we just send my team?"_

Cory rolled her eyes and lost her temper. "Look. We've already explained that! VSPA is watching the crime scene and if the bomb squad shows up…Thousands, possibly millions of lives will be lost. Ya wanna risk that?"

Matt bristled. _"No, I don't. Fine, you've shamed me into it. I'll be there in ten minutes."_

Cory smirked as they disconnected the call. "Guilt trip works every time."

Taylor and Carmen began to laugh, just as Taylor's phone began to ring.

"Hello?" she answered.

"_Ciao, Ms. Turner. I'm glad to see that you've followed my instructions. Bring the flash drive to the New York Stock Exchange. You have one hour. No one else beside you and your two friends can come. If we see anything out of the ordinary, you'll never see your detective friends again."_

Taylor frowned as she hung up her phone. "We have an hour to get to the Stock Exchange."

Cory and Carmen looked at each other. "Alright," Cory said. "Adam? You done with that copy yet?"

Adam looked at her and handed over a flash drive. "Here's the copy. I'm keeping the original here. The drives look the same, so you're good."

Carmen smiled. "Okay, girls. Before we go, I want everyone to don wires. We have to be able to keep in contact with each other if we get separated."

Cory nodded, while Taylor looked a little faint. "I'm not so sure about this."

**~G~H~**

Meanwhile, at Grand Central, Danny and Lindsay were beginning to process the bodies. "Hey, Messer?"

Danny looked at Lindsay. "Yes, Montana?"

Lindsay exhaled. "Something's off about this."

Danny drew his eyebrows together. "I know what you mean. Two bodies, dumped here with no similarities? It doesn't feel right. It's not a mob dump, they weren't executed, no apparent COD. Maybe Sid can shed some more light on it."

Lindsay nodded and they began to look for trace around the bodies.

**~G~H~**

Matt walked into the crime lab, fifteen minutes after he had hung up with the girls. He was a tall man, almost six-four, with a bulky frame that was all muscle, thick black hair and hazel eyes. When he arrived in the AV lab, he noticed Carmen, Taylor and an unknown woman putting on mics. "Hey, Carmen. You're looking beautiful as usual." He turned to Taylor and held out his hand. "It's an honor to meet you, Taylor." Taylor just nodded. Then he turned to the other woman, "You must be Agent Reid. I must say, if I knew FBI agents were so beautiful, I would have accepted the job offer that I got from them." He winked at Cory.

Cory just rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry. I have boyfriend."

Matt got a puppy dog look in his eyes. "You just broke my heart," he said with a smile.

Carmen shot a look at Matt. "Matt? Can we get down to the reason that you're here, please?" At his nod. "Okay. We've been instructed to go to the Stock Exchange, so we are not going to be available. We have briefed the coroner that is going with you. He'll handle covertly letting the detectives at the scene know what's going on. You're job is to disarm the bombs in the van and try to keep everyone safe. Got it?"

Matt nodded. "Where do I need to go?"

Carmen quickly gave him directions to the morgue and she and Cory grabbed their guns. She paused as they walked out of the lab. "Good luck, Matt."

Taylor stopped suddenly and turned. "Wait!" she yelled after the bomb disposal expert.

He stopped and turned. "What's the matter?" he asked her, looking as confused as the two cops who were also staring in puzzlement.

Taylor bit her lip. "Look, all I've learnt about bombs is what I've seen on TV, but if this bomb is going to detonate, surely it's not going to be done on a timer."

Matt nodded. "Your point being?"

"Well," Taylor continued, tentatively. "Then doesn't that mean that it's going to be detonated by a radio frequency, a phone – something like that?"

Matt nodded again, catching her point. "I will have the bodies moved as quickly as possible. I have a frequency jammer which I'll make sure is in the ME's van. This is all routine procedure," he reassured her.

"Taylor, he knows what he's doing," Carmen added.

He nodded and turned to go to the morgue.

Taylor watched him leave, knowing she shouldn't feel as worried as she did, but hoping it was just the fact she was terrified.

**~G~H~**

Upon arriving at the morgue, Matt was faced by a slim grey haired man, looking up at him over the rim of his glasses.

"You're the bomb squad guy?" the older man asked.

"Matt Sullivan." He spoke putting out his hand; the other man took it shaking it firmly.

"Sid Hammerback. I can see why she picked you." Sid remarked looking Matt up and down. Matt's face broke into a grin.

"And she says it's just for my expertise." The two men shared the joke before Sid thrust out a hauler's uniform at Matt.

"That's the largest we have I'm afraid." Matt held it up against him.

"No problem Doc." He said before raising an eyebrow to Sid, who was retreating to let Matt change in private.

"You have any idea what's going to happen when we get there?" Sid asked the younger man. Matt's hazel eyes scanned Sid's face.

"I have a fair idea what we may be dealing with, and Carmen picked me because I'm the best at my job." _Or so she says._

Sid nodded before retreating and closing the door behind him leaving Matt in peace.

**~G~H~**

The ride to the crime scene was bumpy, Matt took a deep breath to calm his shuddering nerves as he threw open the doors.

_After this she definitely owes me dinner,_ he thought stepping out into the sun.

Matt followed Hammerback in through the main doors pushing the trolley behind him. Another hauler was pushing the second trolley behind him. The scene in front of them was taped off with the thin yellow crime scene tape.

He scanned each of the people in it, winking at the Detective with the long curly black hair; she glared at him indignant, as he chuckled to himself.

He crouched next to the feet of the first body and began to spread his body bag onto the floor, ignoring the urge he was getting to lift up the shirt of the young dead man.

**~G~H~**

Sid was crouching next to Danny as he studied the body.

"Smile at me," Sid muttered. Danny frowned clearly alarmed by Sid's sudden words.

"Smile, Danny. It's important." A large false smile spread across Danny's face as Sid kept his head tucked down pretending to examine the body.

"We're being watched," Sid murmured. Danny went to talk but Sid cut him off.

"Don't talk just listen and keep on smiling," Danny nodded, doing as he as told.

"There's a chemical bomb in at least one of these bodies. The hauler with the male is an expert in the bomb squad, we're going to try and disarm the bodies in the van. Just stay put and don't leave this scene until you're given the o.k." Danny's jaw tightened, but he nodded and kept smiling.

"Now if you could pass the message on discreetly I would be grateful, otherwise we both know three women that would have my head," Sid remarked quietly. Danny narrowed his eyes at Sid, he had so many questions but he knew this wasn't the place to ask them. Sid had just confirmed that Cory, Taylor and Carmen were involved somehow. The two men stood up as the other hauler came over with his own body bag. Sid gave Danny a concerned look before walking back towards the van both trolleys following close behind.

**~G~H~**

Matt was sitting in the back of the van, unzipping the body bag slowly. They'd tried to be as careful as possible with loading up the bodies. He reached under the shirt of the stab wound victim and pulled it up gently. His eyes fell on the slit in the stomach of the victim feeling immediately.

_Dinner and a movie at least, _he thought shaking his head, as he donned his latex gloves.

Matt ignored the involuntary shudder as he thrust his hand into the body's lower cavity, feeling around for something metal. His fingers brushed a cylinder; he wrapped his fingers around it, ignoring the squishy feeling of the tissue surrounding his hand.

Matt pulled out the large cylinder and set it on top of the body, before opening his tool kit and taking out the tiny screw driver. He began to twist the screws on the cylinder gently holding it still in his hand. The panel came away easily,

_The bomb's definitely well made._

He took a look inside it and blinked momentarily.

_Shit!_

The inside was a massive tangle of wires all of varying lengths and colors, plugged into different parts of the mechanism. Three different chemicals were hooked up to the main system. This was going to be extremely complicated.

Matt put down his screw driver and picked up his pliers. "I better get one wild night from this Carmen," he muttered under his breath before setting to work on attempting to determine where to cut.

**~G~H~**

Taylor glanced up from the wires in her hands and over at Carmen and Cory. They looked so calm as they attached the wires to themselves, that for a moment she was actually jealous. And then she realized what she was about to do and figured that was the last thing she should be feeling.

She continued cursing under her breath at her difficulties until Cory looked over.

"You alright there?" Cory asked her.

Taylor flung the wires down. "This is stupid. What do I need these for?"

"We need to keep in contact with each other," Carmen patiently explained.

Much to her chagrin, Taylor realized she was right. Until she remembered something very important. "The Stock Exchange has metal detectors."

Cory froze, her hand hovering above Taylor's chest where she was helping her attach the mic, and swore. "You're right."

Carmen's reaction was just as colorful. "They knew," she muttered.

Taylor slumped back against the side, the color leaving her face. "I can't do this," she told the others.

"Taylor, we'll be right there with you," Cory told her calmly, removing the mic she had just fitted.

"We'll make sure that at least one of us stays with you," Carmen agreed.

Taylor shook her head. "No, I _really_ can't do this," she pointed at an empty space on the other side of the room.

Cory and Carmen both turned.

"Are you telling me your ghost is back?" Carmen asked, her eyebrow arched. Whilst she didn't think Taylor was lying, she was still having a hard time believing.

"And he brought a friend," Taylor said as she stared at the dead bank manager form Italy.

"You have to stop it," he pleaded.

Taylor nodded and stared at Woody. "I have to get to that bomb," she whispered, her face as grey and ashen as her dead friend's.

"No." Cory's voice was calm and authoritative.

"I'm with Cory," Carmen told her, joining the two women.

Taylor pulled her eyes away from the blue wire the bank manager was waving frantically at her, and looked at her friends. "Trust me when I say, I really don't want to do this, but I do. And I have to."

"Taylor, Matt is one of the best in the business. He knows what he's doing," Carmen informed her.

"I don't doubt that for a minute," Taylor agreed. "But that ghost there wants me at that bomb. And it's not like we can call him."

"We can call Danny," Cory offered.

Taylor shook her head. "We can't risk drawing suspicion. And I can't _not_ go. Or are you willing to risk hundreds, even thousands of lives?"

Cory glanced at Carmen and sighed.

"What about this meeting?" Carmen asked. "And how are _you_ going to get there without drawing suspicion? It's not like you've got a face which won't stand out."

"We've got to try something," Taylor muttered, surprising herself with how calm she sounded. "There are too many people at that crime scene that I care about."

Cory looked past Taylor, catching her reflection in the window, as she thought about her and Danny's date. "Alright."

"Alright?" Carmen repeated incredulously. "Are you kidding? She couldn't even put a mic on, and you're letting her go _disarm a bomb_?"

Cory nodded. "There has been nothing normal about any of this, but one of the only consistencies is that the ghost has always been right."

Taylor nodded her agreement. "They're a pain in the neck, but they won't let me do something stupid."

"They are 'telling you' to walk onto a crime scene to disarm a _chemical weapon_," Carmen all but shrieked.

"Yeah," Taylor agreed. "And in the meantime, you two have forty minutes to get to the Stock Exchange."

Carmen glanced at her watch and swore. "For the record, I think this is a very bad idea," she conceded.

**~G~H~**

**AN: **_Okay. So it's only been five months since we posted and now we're posting again! We're trying to be better. Anyways, please review!_

_The Corrupter – (Sparky) Hogging is not just a Brit word, we use it her in the US all the time (especially in Texas). The idea of Cory and Mac together is interesting, but with the way that she's written in both my stories and this story, they just wouldn't work out. He's too father like for her. I don't know if you should be worried, but I promise that it will be interesting! (Ax) – Yeah, it's been a while. And don't make me send you another email, Shabbs. But I'm glad you like. I think you should be worried (:P) (Aph) I totally did not realize how long it took us to post again. Time just runs away with you when you have a lot going on in RL._

_Meadow567 – (Sparky) It wasn't too long, was it?(Ax) For us, I think this was quite an impressive update speed! (Aph) It's been a while I admit._

_Demolished-soul – (Sparky) We're writing! I promise! We all have so many projects up in the air at the moment. (Ax) – It's a rare occasion that we're all online together at the moment that we have to wait a while before we can sit and discuss the next steps. But we're working on it! (Aph) As they said our RL's are also really busy!_

_JoanneF – (Sparky) I must thank Axellia for writing the past of VSPA. She did that all by herself and it turned out Fab! We hope not to leave y'all waiting too long! (Ax) I'm glad you enjoyed! (Aph) the bodies was a really good idea I defo thought! Thankies for our review and I'm glad your still a fan._

_IluvmyTV-ugottaproblem – (Sparky) OMG. I can't believe that we left y'all hanging so long! We haven't been able to hook up together to get a chapter written much, but here you go! Thanks for the reminder! (Ax) Has it really been five months? Wow, I'm sorry! You don't even want to know how long it's been since we actually _wrote_ a chapter! (Aph) Guilty as charged, but RL is reallybusy esp now but we will try!_


	16. Nothing Is As Far Away As One Minute Ago

**Gotham's Heroes is a collective story from SparkyCSI, Aphina and Axellia (please read the author bio for further information). **

**Whilst we own our OC's, even when we combine our savings, we are not even close to owning a percentage of CSI: NY - so don't sue us!**

**Gotham's Heroes**

**Chapter 16: Nothing is as far away as one minute ago **

Cory's driving was so erratic that Carmen's nails were biting into the leather of the door handle with her grip. But time was pressing on and she wasn't about to tell the FBI agent to calm down. "Did we do the right thing?" she asked her as Cory honked impatiently at a yellow cab.

"It's too late to change our minds now," Cory told her without taking her attention off the road. She stuck her head out of the window. "Can you not see the flashing lights, jerk-off?" she yelled impatiently at the cab driver, whose one finger response was almost enough for Cory to pull over and jump out, and point her gun in his face.

"The Stock Exchange," Carmen muttered.

Cory's forehead settled into a frown as she swung out and around the cab (a moment of satisfaction setting in as she cut the driver off) and continued to the location.

They arrived with minutes to spare and the two women walked semi-calmly into the building, passing through security. "Now what?" Cory asked, looking around.

**~G~H~**

Taylor's journey was even more frustrating. It seemed like everyone had decided to crash on the route to the station, and consequently, she was having issues maneuvering the ME's van around the traffic.

Two blocks away, it hit her as to what a stupid and dangerous thing she was doing. She didn't even know how to use a gun properly, and yet here she was, about to walk into a van and disarm a bomb. And that brought another realization to her. "Maddy!" she yelled.

"I can't help you," Maddy told her as she, Woody and the bank manager appeared on the seat next to her.

Taylor's head whipped around so quickly that the blonde wig she was wearing narrowly missed her eye. "Madeline Alameda, I am about to tell someone how to disarm a bomb. If we take aside the fact this is the most stupid thing I have ever done, including that incident from Spring Break we are never to speak of, all because these guys," she jammed a thumb so violently at the two men, her hand went through Woody's arm, "are telling me to."

Maddy nodded. "Your point?"

"My point," Taylor exploded, "is that I'm about to tell an expert how to do his job. And unless you tell me how to get him to let me do that, I will actually kill you all over again, because I will be dead, along with half of New York!"

Maddy sighed. "I'll get back to you."

Taylor slammed her fists impatiently on the steering wheel, jumping when the horn blared at her. As she realized the traffic wasn't moving anywhere, she leant over, grabbed the ME's bag from the foot well next to her, and leapt out of the van, taking off at a run for the Station, praying she wasn't going to be too late.

**~G~H~**

"How do we know this isn't some wild goose chase to lure us away from the real threat?" Carmen asked as she scanned the floor of the Stock Exchange.

"We don't,' Cory sighed. The deadline had rolled away ten minutes previously, and Csokas had still to call them.

And then Taylor's phone rang. Realizing that the only contact they had with Csokas had had was with Taylor; Cory had demanded that the journalist hand over her cell before she had driven off. Cory snapped it open. "Csokas."

"You are not _Signora_ Turner."

"No, this is Special Agent Corrine Reid," Cory told him, scanning the crowds to see if she could spot him.

"And where is _Signora _Turner?" The Russian accent was cold.

**~G~H~**

Taylor skidded to a halt at the entrance to Grand Central Station. She gave her appearance the once over in the window (to make sure the wig was still in place) and seeing everything was alright, headed over to the officer, flashed a badge (which didn't actually belong to her) and headed down to the crime scene.

The area around the crime scene tape was surrounded by people all craning their necks to see if they could see anything interesting. Taylor pushed aside the nauseating feeling and pushed through them to the tape. She flashed her badge briefly at another uniformed officer and ducked under the tape.

She could see her friends out of the corner of her eye, but Taylor knew if she was spotted her cover would be blown in seconds. And that wouldn't be the only thing that would get blown. She dipped her head and hurried over to the other coroner's van. (She wasn't sure how they had managed to get it into the station, but she wasn't about to ask someone.)

She pulled open the door, realizing as she did that maybe that much force wasn't needed, when the wire cutters Matt was holding flew out of his hands.

**~G~H~**

Danny looked up from the footprint lift he was doing and spotted a blonde dressed in coroners overalls duck under the tape. "Who's that?" he asked Flack and Angell who were stood over him.

The looked up from the memo books they were comparing notes over and looked over at the woman Danny was pointing at.

"I have no idea, but she looks familiar," Flack muttered.

"Okay," Lindsay muttered, walking over. "I'm confused. Why is Taylor blonde, and why is she wearing overalls?"

The three detective's jaws hit the floor. "That's _Taylor_?" Danny asked in disbelief.

"Oh my God, it is," Angell muttered as Flack began striding over to the van.

Sid quickly walked over and joined them. "Look," he said with a smile. "I can't tell you what's happening, but get back to work," he whispered urgently.

"Since when has Taylor been working in the morgue?" Danny asked, ignoring the request.

"Danny, I will make sure everything is explained to you soon, but trust me when I say you _must_ get back to work and ignore her."

Although Sid's expression didn't match the urgency in Sid's voice, Danny nodded and complied with the coroner's demand.

**~G~H~**

"What the hell are you doing?" Matt demanded, ripping off his gas mask, as Taylor stepped in, closing the door behind her.

Taylor took a breath. "I am going to explain everything. But you _have___to trust me."

"What?" Matt repeated. "You shouldn't be here," he told her, reaching for the wire cutters.

"No!" Taylor cried, as she realized he was about to cut the pink wire.

Matt paused and glared at her. "Who's the bomb expert here?"

"Please," she begged.

Matt ignored her and returned his attention to the bomb.

So Taylor pulled the wire cutters out of his hand.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Matt exploded.

"Maddy!" Taylor shouted.

"Who the hell is Maddy?"

"He has a picture of Carmen taped to his locker door," Maddy said quickly as she and the two ghosts appeared.

Taylor stared at Matt. "Ok, here's the thing. Ghosts exist. And I can see them. There are three in here now, and I have to stop you from cutting that wire, or we're going to join them."

"You're crazy," Matt muttered in disbelief.

"Yeah, I am," Taylor agreed. "But the thing is, I'm also right. And I know about the picture of Carmen you have taped to the inside of your locker."

Matt scoffed at her. "My team knows about that picture."

Taylor whipped her head back to face Maddy and shrugged her shoulders expectantly.

"Who is Maddy?" Matt repeated.

Maddy let out a reluctant sigh. "He cheated on his chemistry final sophomore year of college."

"I know about the chemistry final you cheated on," Taylor told him, ignoring his question.

"What final?" Matt demanded, although the color was quickly draining from his face.

"Sophomore year," Taylor yelled at him.

"How do you know about that?" Matt muttered in disbelief as he slummed back.

"I don't have time for this," Taylor cried. "This thing could go at any moment."

The bank manager sprung to action, leaping forward and pointing at the green wire.

"Cut the green one," Taylor told Matt, thrusting the wire cutters back into his hand.

Practically in shock, Matt nodded and took the cutters without question, cutting the wire. The display lit up, a timer showing, counting down from twenty.

"What the hell have you done?" Matt asked in a panic.

Taylor felt the blood rushing from her head as she stared at the bank manager. He pointed to a yellow wire, pink wire, and finally an orange one. Taylor relayed the rainbow order of colors to Matt, who quickly followed them.

"It's not stopping!" Mat cried as the countdown continued to zero.

Taylor shut her eyes and covered her head, Matt doing the same.

The bomb clicked. But nothing happened. Taylor opened her eyes tentatively. Maddy and Woody were gone. The bomb timer was flashing zero, but nothing had exploded.

Matt sat upright and pulled the canister containing the nerve agent from the body. "How did you… that's impossible… the wires are wrong…" he muttered disbelievingly as he stared into the body of the cadaver.

Just as he settled the canister into a secure container, the van's door was once again ripped open, and Taylor fully appreciated how Matt must have felt, as Flack stood there, his mouth wide open.

**~G~H~**

"She's right next to me," Cory told Csokas.

"No, she is not," Csokas responded.

Cory stared at Carmen, her eyes widening. Carmen got the message and spun around, trying desperately to see if she could see him.

"She was a moment ago," Cory responded hurriedly.

"You are a liar, like all Americans. I expected no less," Csokas told her, hanging up.

Cory felt her heart leap into her throat. "Csokas?" she demanded to the dead line.

"What happened?" Carmen asked her urgently, ignoring the people who were barging through the two of them.

Cory turned to her, her face as white as a sheet. "He knows."

**~G~H~**

"What in the name of God is going on?" Flack demanded.

Taylor opened her mouth to explain when she was stopped by a whirring sound. She turned in horror to stare at the bomb which was once again lit up. "I thought it was safe?" she shrieked at Matt.

"RUN!" Matt bellowed, grabbing the case containing the canister and leaping over Taylor out of the van.

Taylor took another look at the bomb, and then Flack was pulling her out. She didn't hear what he was shouting over the sound of her heartbeat pounding in her ears. And then there was a bang and she was flung into the air.

**~G~H~**

Carmen looked at Cory, panic rising in her chest. "Cory? Do you have the flash drive?"

Cory felt her pockets in a panic. "Damn it!" she swore as she realized the reason that Csokas had chosen the Stock Exchange. "He brought us here to have our pockets picked. Perfect cover. That way he only needs a few people here and the rest can be watching the crime scene!"

Carmen swore creatively under her breath as both women turned and practically ran out of the building. She flung herself into the SUV and quickly buckled herself in.

Cory climbed in after her and heard her police scanner spring to life. "All units in the vicinity of Grand Central Terminal, we have an explosion in the terminal. All available units please respond."

Carmen and Cory shared a panicked stare as Cory grabbed her radio. "This is Special Agent Corrine Reid. I'm responding to the scene." She looked at Carmen, panic shining in her eyes. "Hold on," she said grimly as she tore out of the parking spot.

**~G~H~**

**AN:**

_**We're back (sort of) we all sort of decided now was the time to try and get this baby finished. So if you're still reading this and we know it has been a long time then stick with us there's not long now we hope. **_

_Iluvmytv: (aph) my prob is I spend all sorts of time writing when I shouldn't be so I get where your coming from. Thanks for the review. (sparky) I agree with Aph, I spend the majority of my time writing as well, but my muses are concentrating on Harry Potter at the moment and I can't get them to quit! I will make a promise that it will not be a year until we update again! Thanks! (Ax) lol, for the best part of a year, my muses haven't focused on anything! It's taken a while just to get them writing again, but thanks for sticking with us!_

_Demolished: (aph) and it just gets better! (sparky) Thanks and yes, there are good things ahead. (Ax) I'd agree, but I can barely remember what's up ahead. I'm sure it's good though!_

_Maddy: (aph) lol I love matt, I esp love him and carm! (sparky) Hum. I don't think we've gotten that far in the story, but maybe we can convince the muses to do something with that! (Ax) I think it's clearly time for us to all sit down together and discuss the plot!_

_Lapland: (aph) our muses are still being a little wayward but we have still written quite a few chaps before they floated away so we still have some to post. Fingers crossed they make a hasty return. (sparky) Aph's muses are a little wayward, mine have taken a stroll through the solar system! But I must thank you for your review since it was what reminded me that we have not updated on this! (Ax) lol, my muses dove off that ship, practically drowned, and have been in a coma for a few months! They are slowly being coaxed back though!_


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